Instinct: Reactions
by KazuSakai
Summary: 2 kids went out to find their fortunes. What they found was... something else. Nevertheless, they still continued on. Why not? They have nothing to fear as long as they have each other. Based on Shadowblayze's Instinct.
1. Tifa: Contemplate

A Daughter's Thoughts

Ever since that day Cloud went to play with the rowdier boys of the town, he now had a white wolf who was always following him. It started about 3 years ago, right about a week after the Midwinter Festival of 1994. Most of the residents of the town tried to drive off the wolf but Cloud would always defend it. For 3 years, Tifa was pondering the reason why there was a wolf tailing Cloud like he was its mom.

She never had the chance to ask Cloud nor Mrs. Strife because Cloud wouldn't play with the other kids in the town. Especially when they left the boy alone somewhere along the trail towards Mt. Nibel, Tifa could say Cloud doesn't trust his safety with them anymore than she could trust her dad to wake up before 6 am on weekends. Which was really sad, now that she thought about it. Cloud was nice, polite, has a pleasant personality and Tifa could admit she has a _tiny_ crush on the boy, but apparently if you don't have a dad and you live only with your mom who works as a mechanic at the only and rarely frequented repair shop of the town, you aren't _acceptable_ and _respectable_ to the people of Nibelheim. So for the entire duration of 3 years, Tifa would stalk the boy and his wolf whenever she had the time to do so, only to lose them after a few minutes. Then she would find them again at a distance and the cycle repeats itself.

On that day, Tifa was on her mission. It started like any usual day of following the blond and his wolf from the town's only item store when all of the sudden the boy and his wolf disappeared from her sight.

Not exactly vanishing in mid-air but more like she lost where the two went to. The two turned around the corner of a street and when she came to the corner, it was full of people coming out from the town hall. She was following the two, strangely intrigued by the strange white wolf. Tifa searched for the two for almost an hour until she had to go home. The sun was already setting and sunset always come early during those months.

It was then she finally saw Cloud as she was walking down the path towards her house. He was talking with the brand new kid she saw hanging around at the water tower. Tifa tried to approach the two but as fast as she noticed them, they quickly left the water tower and walked along the beaten path leading to the outskirts of the town. Some of the residents of Nibelheim have their homes outside the town proper so didn't paid any mind to it. Tifa couldn't even _try_ because it was dark enough for her to _stumble_ on her feet, blindly tripping over the small rocks to her house.

She asked her father after dinner if he knew of the new kid's identity, hair as black as night and eyes green as those emeralds her mother used to wear. That was the only description Tifa could muster due to the lack of lighting at that time and honestly, it was already too dark for her to see what the kid was wearing.

He responded her with a strange look and asked, "You noticed him too, Tifa? Honestly, I have no idea who that kid is. We _are_ living in a small town near Mt. Nibel. I should have at least had an idea who that kid is or his parents are but honestly I really don't know." Her father made a deep sigh and pulled her closer. "We tried to approach the kid one time but he ran away from us. I even asked the council if they have seen the kid or was there a missing child from one of the families, but nothing came out."

"H-He was with Cloud dad, I think. It was already dark by the time I saw him but… I think I saw the kid talking with Cloud." Maybe that's why he wasn't trying to get her attention nowadays? He was busy playing with his new friend?

"Hmm… Well, Claudia isn't really from Nibelheim, she just married Neil and lived here for almost a year before he died in an accident at Mt. Nibel. If not for the fact she was already pregnant when Neil died, I would say her son wasn't Neil's."

Tifa had no idea what was her father was rambling now.

"Rumors were saying she ran away from outside Nibelheim and poor old Neil was the unfortunate one to be charmed by her looks. I would say she would be the most beautiful woman at that time here at Nibelheim but your mother would argue with me with that, which I would gladly surrender everytime." Her father made a wistful sigh. "If what you are saying is true then the chances are the kid and Cloud are stepbrothers."

"…Huh? Why dad?" And how did her dad arrive to that from talking about Cloud's father, Neil was it?

"They say Claudia was married before coming to Nibelheim, the new kid hangs around with Cloud and avoids us, people who lived within the town proper. Tell me Tifa, did you see the two near outside the town?" She nodded. "Just what I thought. Claudia's previous husband may had chased her down here and threw the kid at her. Maybe responsibility or something."

"B-But dad! The kid is much smaller than Cloud!"

"Oh my child," her father slowly spoke to her as he knelt and brushed her hair with his fingers. "Your mother used to be like that kid, if what I think is to be true. Your late grandparents weren't your mother's real parents. Your grandfather had a relationship outside Nibelheim before marrying your grandma so when _that_ woman arrived at your grandparents' with your mom on her arms, she left your mom at the center of the aisle and left the town immediately."

"Your mom once did resent her true mom but she's thankful of her because she had two amazing parents and met me!" Her father smiled after that, making Tifa smile as well. "Huh, it's been one year already…" And her father frowned again.

"Anyway, if that kid is now Cloud's stepbrother, it would make sense Claudia wouldn't allow the kid to be seen by the public. Her already bad reputation in town would only be worsen if the public discovered she now had a new child with her, regardless of her explanations."

Tifa only nodded at her father. She wanted to ask more but the grandfather clock at the corner of the living room bonged. "Oh Tifa, I guess it's your bedtime already. Go upstairs, I'll follow you in a minute."

She ran upstairs after kissing her father's cheek. Tifa was then tucked in her bed a few minutes after, all dressed in her sleeping clothes. She wanted to ask if her father also knew of the reason why there was a white wolf following Cloud as well but she ran out of time. Thinking she could ask Cloud the day after when she confront him at the route from his house to the town, she closed her eyes and slept, dreaming about her future training regime under the resident martial arts expert in Nibelheim. She giggled in her sleep, dreaming of her father's expression on discovering her training, both in anger and delight.

The next day, news of Claudia Strife's death reached the town proper and hours later Cloud and his white wolf weren't seen in Nibelheim. She went to the house where Cloud was living at and found Master Zangan there. Tifa asked her teacher in martial arts if there was a black haired kid with Cloud but all she got was a swift ' _no_ '.

She also asked when Cloud had left and where. The house was almost empty of belongings – personal belongings -, clearly showing it was emptied out. Master Zangan told her he just helped the previous occupant in burying his mother at the back and in storing any useful stuff in a big that morning.

Tifa just missed Cloud by only a few hours and she won't see her savior for the next 4 years.


	2. Ver: Spend Time with Cloud

Approaching the Canyon

Honestly, Verändern or Ver, whenever he returns back to being human from shifting, liked his abilities and would prefer to be in his 'shifted' form. But Cloud, the worrywart, always reminds him not to spend all of his time pretending to be an animal. Deep down, Ver thought his big brother just wanted him to stop shifting into a chocobo and nibbling his spiky hair.

Still, following Cloud's advice would be good for him in the long run. Now that he and Cloud are alone now, only the two of them against the entire world – to be dramatic -, they must find something to do in order to survive. Staying at Nibelheim was just asking for their end and their mother's last words were for them to enjoy their life to the fullest.

Something both of them whole-heartedly agree.

And that's why the two of them are on their way to the part of the Western Continent. Though Cloud wanted them to go up north towards Rocket Town because of the rumors of having jobs for them, both them agreed that it would be foolish for them to try and cross the mountain area. Especially when it was the 'Ber' Months and the snow was ridiculously strong at the Nibel Mountain range that not even a Nibel Dragon wouldn't decide to go out.

Ver and Cloud tried to do it once, with Ver shifting into a Nibel Dragon youngling in order to try and see what was beyond the mountain range. The outcome was a bust and Ver had to suffer for an entire 2 days stuck in a dragon youngling form with a headache. Both of them discovered right there that Ver's shifting abilities were, at the moment, limited.

So they decided to make their way Cosmo Canyon first and go to Gongaga afterwards. They had a map from Master Zangan, a parting gift he said, so they wouldn't get lost. As long as they follow the main roads, they would be alright.

The reason why the party of two decided to go there was because Ver was curious about the stories of Cosmo Canyon. When they asked for advice from Master Zangan on where they should go, the first thing he said was Midgar and the second thing was Cosmo Canyon.

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" _Cosmo Canyon first then try to see if there are any ferry boats going directly to Junon from Gongaga, because you two would need to restock if you are planning to go to Midgar at this time. You two are too young to think of tackling the mountain range and I doubt you two would be allowed to hitchhike by the people here."_

 _"Why Cosmo Canyon?" Cloud asked as he tried to fit the meager clothing he had into the small backpack. Verä was busy rounding up any leftover things he had by picking them up one by one and stuffing them to a smaller bag the white wolf would be able to carry later._

 _"It's the nearest to Nibelheim for now; Rocket Town might be nearer but with how the weather seems to be right now, I doubt there are any roads open crossing or going around the Nibel Mountain Range," the old man stated. He then picked up a picture frame on the small table near the entrance of the small house. "Huh. Claudia still kept that last picture. Neil really lucked out with her."_

 _"What did you say Mister?"_

 _"Nothing. Anyway, you and your pet wolf are sure on leaving this place. May I ask why?"_

 _Stopping for a brief moment of pause, Verä saw Cloud stopped in his attempt to fit the rest of his clothes in his half-full backpack. Cloud couldn't say to the old man directly that he wanted to leave the place because almost all of the people there **hated** him and his mother. His mother was a saint in comparison to the residents of Nibelheim. A fact even he could admit was true, he who hangs around the town's water tower whenever Cloud was busy doing his portion of house chores and acts as a silent observer of the town._

 _Thinking fast, he picked up one of the pictures he and Cloud had set aside for safe-keeping and brought It to the blond._

 _Verä nudged at Cloud's leg. His self-appointed big brother looked down and saw what he was carrying in his white wolf form's jaws. A picture where he, as a white wolf, Cloud and Mrs. Claudia Strife were posing for a family picture. They were sitting in front of the fire with Verä on Cloud's lap while his mother was standing behind him, smiles evident on their faces. Cloud had borrowed Tifa's camera for the occasion and begged the town's only store owner afterwards to develop the picture of him and his family. Verä was making growling noises and nudged the picture even further to his brother's calf._

 _He hoped Cloud would get the idea using the picture of their small family… Their small family…_

 _"It's… It's to follow my mother's last wish. She wanted me to enjoy my life. And what better way to spend it than to explore right? I guess it's because she was here for almost 13 years with me, raising me and living her entire life that she…. She told me she came somewhere at the Eastern Continent, I think it was Karum or something, so maybe I should try and go there, right?" Good. Cloud definitely caught what he was implying. He went back to his work while making sure he was listening to his brother and the old man._

 _Mister Zangan hummed and went silent for a minute. Instead of standing still and wait for the old man's reply, Cloud went to the kitchen. Verä followed his brother and saw him checking if there are any more food that they could bring. A small and almost silent gasp was made by Cloud. Figures. He would only find a piece of bread and a small bottle of sauce their mom made two days before she died were there at the kitchen counter._

 _He had cleaned the kitchen while Cloud and Mister Zangan buried their mom at the small garden he and Cloud made. There weren't any canned foods, oatmeal nor dried meat at the cabinets, and there were a **lots** of those since they tend to store food for the future in case their mom couldn't buy enough food for them to last the week. All those were already packed for their travel._

 _"If you are sure then I wouldn't stop you. But let me help you at the very least," the old man spoke. Cloud and Verä heard something being shuffled inside a bag as they went back to the small living room in the house. The old man had brought out a map and a small bag._

 _"Here." Mister Zangan dropped the map on his arms and Cloud went into opening it. It was a map of Gaia and there were a few marks and notes written on it. "Since you are so keen in going out, you'll have my old map. I bet there's still my notes all written there. Shortcuts, tips and any small towns along the road that would certainly let you stay at their inns," Mister Zangan spoke, pointing at certain routes at the map._

 _"And here," he opened the small bag and brought out a single green Materia orb, "I have a couple of Materia, all extras from my original ones, so I'll give it you. You will need it."_

 _"I have the sword you gave me!" Cloud protested, pointing to the small broadsword leaning at the corner of the room. "Why would I need Materia?" Phoenix and his magic would deal with any monsters that are too far away from him so why…_

 _"Kid, do you expect your measly skills with the sword would handle everything? Although I doubt you will have too much trouble with the animals and occasional monsters on the road to Cosmo Canyon," Mister Zangan then closed the small bag and reached out to his back pack. "It would be a very big help if you have Materia with you. Have you forgotten about those Sonic Speeds at Mt. Nibel and how you can't hit them with that sword of yours?"_

 _Cloud ducked his head and laughed lightly. Even he had to turn around because it was embarrassing to be reminded of Cloud's fumbling at Mt. Nibel, trying to hit the Sonic Speeds when they are so high up in the air and were clearly finding his attempts to be so amusing. If it weren't for Mister Zangan noticing him, he would be stuck there until the Sonic Speeds got tired of him. Or until Verä jumped in._

 _"I still have no idea where did you found that sword that have 4 Materias already equipped in it when you don't even use it to its full potential. Next time kiddo, use it, okay? You're just wasting the Materia equipped to it."_

 _"…Yes, Mister."_

 _"And another thing, call me Master Zangan. Calling me mister makes me feel older than I should be."_

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Still, Cloud really should learn how to use Materia. Just because he's already the designated magic user of their party of two doesn't mean he should be the _only_ one. And besides, the Rune Blade he scavenged from Mt. Nibel would just be _wasted_ if Cloud didn't use the runes and the Materia he equipped into it.

After an hour of walking the plains of the Western portion of the Western Continent, they finally reached the border of the plains and the mountainous area of the South-West region of the Western Continent. Unlike at the Northern region of the continent, the weather at the Southern region was the warmer and significantly _hotter._ No wonder the people at the towns they visited gave them a strange look when they heard of their plans.

"Well, here we are! We reached the canyons of Cosmo Canyon!" Ver exclaimed, taking in the view of the steep sides of the mountains of Cosmo Canyon. Unlike the Nibel Mountain Range, Cosmo Canyon had **_visible_** _paths_ to the settlement in the Canyon.

"Yeah. A month of travelling and we are almost there," Cloud replied, also taking in the view. "Right now, I bet there's a blizzard at Nibelheim." The view was amazing especially with the sun setting over the horizon, giving the landscape a red orange color. The stars were also coming out but at Cosmo Canyon, they seemed to be a bit _brighter_.

"Just like every year, Cloud, there's _always_ a blizzard whenever October kicks in."

Both of them fell silent after that. "Let's take a break for now. I'll make the tent!" Ver volunteered. Cloud nodded in agreement.

Unpacking his backpack, he brought out the components of their tent and began to set it up. Ver did it with a speed of a person who was accustomed to the action and soon enough, he had a sturdy tent prepared for the two of them. As he cleaned up the mess he made from setting up the tent, his brother was also busy making a fire for cooking and for their campfire.

Cloud already collected a bunch of wood along the way to Cosmo Canyon and kept them secured with a rope along his backpack. They were doing it for almost a month and the two of them were already accustomed to collecting wood if they noticed there weren't any towns nearby when night fell.

Ver sat down beside Cloud as he pulled out the Rune Blade and used the Materia equipped with it to cast a low level Fire on the pile of wood. With the fire ready, Ver brought out the ingredients in his backpack for making a hearty soup for the two of them, a recipe their mom cooked for them and Ver memorized in her memory.

By the time the sun completely disappeared and the moon and stars were shining bright at the night sky, Ver and Cloud had finished eating their dinner of soup and bread and were lounging under the night sky. The campfire was still going strong and with Ver consistently powering the Enemy Away Materia – something Ver managed to haggle from the old lady at the Materia shop of the last town they visited -, the brothers in all but blood were safe from any roaming monsters in the area. They still have their respective weapons beside them though, the Rune Sword for Cloud and a pair of weighted knuckle gloves and sturdy boots for Ver.

"You really have to tell me how or where you get these Materia. From the shops we went to, I never saw any of those Materia you have being sold there," Cloud asked, breaking the silence. "I doubt you stole them. So where?"

"Remember the time when you got caught by Master Zangan at Mt. Nibel?"

"How could I forget it. You ran off towards some place and left me. Then those Sonic Speeds came. Good thing I had the Rune Blade we found before or else I was done." Cloud huffed and lightly punched the black haired kid. "Wait, you mean you got our Materia at some cave in Mt. Nibel? All of them?"

Ver laughed. "Well, except for Phoenix, I got them all at Mt. Nibel. I guess that was a, uh, Materia mine or something. It was almost empty and I think I lucked out with these orbs." He brought up the bracers he had on both of his arms that had small holes in it. "I saw them a week before and didn't got the chance to get them. I thought at first they were just pretty rocks like mom had in her drawer but they were _balls._ I got only a few so I was surprised they multiplied after being used for some time."

"Hm… Maybe. Still, how can you identify which Materia is which. I still have a hard time picking out the fire Materia from the ice one." Cloud brought up his Rune Sword, a broadsword that was short enough for Cloud to properly use and not heavy enough for him carry. "What are these Materia again, Ver? I can tell though that this one here isn't a magic Materia but a, uh, special one."

"A Fire, Thunder, Long Range and a Restore. Yeah, you're right that the purple one is a special. That's a Long Range Materia, it allows you to reach flying enemies, like the Sonic Speeds. If you concentrate on an enemy and imagine it being hit, the Materia will act and the slash you make will _magically_ reach it!"

"So that's how I was able to hit the Bomb back at the plain! Hey! You didn't answer my first question."

Ver giggled at his brother's realization. "You know how you 'feel out' the Materia with you mind, right? " Cloud nodded at him. "Great, try it out and think of its name. Title or whatever. Try guessing which one is a Thunder and a Fire." The one below the purple one was the Thunder while the one at the top was the Fire and the one sandwiched between it and the Long Range Materia was the Restore. Cloud closed his eyes and paused for a moment.

He then held the Rune Sword at its hilt, clearly attempting to 'feel out' the equipped Materia just like how he used a Thunder to strike the monsters an hour ago. Cloud then used his other hand to point at the green Materia between the purple and the green Materia and said, "I think this is… Restore? I 'feel' it can, uh, heal me. I never used healing Materia before since you always patch me up."

Ver smiled at his brother. "That's not what I was asking but you're right. So what is the other green Materia?"

"It's… Fire? And the one at the bottom is… Thunder."

"Yep!"

Cloud sheathed back the broadsword back to its makeshift sheath and placed it back to the ground. "So that's how you identify which Materia is which. What do you call it again? Uh… Mind games?"

Laughing lightly at his brother, Ver activated the Fire Materia he had on his bracers. He then played with the small fireball he now had on his hands. "Maybe~?" he said, lightly stretching the last syllable of the word. Tossing the other fireball to his other hand, back in forth. He almost dropped the fire ball when Cloud gave him a weird face. "Anyway, I can't believe you didn't notice you were using the Long Range Materia in hitting the out of reach enemies. And I'm supposed to be the younger one," he commented as he rose up from the ground, willing away the small fireball. Cloud's frown became more apparent when his eyebrows tensed slightly. He then tried to pull him back to the ground but Ver was quick. Ver jumped away from Cloud, just in time to avoid his leg from being caught.

He put his tongue out, taunting his brother. "Come on. Cloud. I'm going to sleep now. We have to get ready for the climb early in the morning!" He then went inside the tent and called out for Cloud again.

"Coming, you brat! I'm coming! Don't close me out of the tent again!"

"It's your fault for being slow, Cloud!"


	3. Nanaki: Inspect route

Rendezvous # 13: Chance Encounter

Nanaki was out at the valleys of Cosmo Canyon, doing his rounds of guarding the perimeter of the settlement, watching out for any monsters that might attack the town when he heard something _shuffle_ and he initially thought maybe he strayed a bit _too_ far from where he's supposed to be. He was just about to turn back and return to his post when he heard a pair of voices, screaming.

And that's where he got confused. He might be young compared to the other members of their tribe but he's quite knowledgeable about humans, enough that he was usually mistaken as an adult when the travelling and visiting humans came to Cosmo Canyon. As such, he can tell signs of what a human would be feeling depending on their cries or vocal sounds. As it is, when a human scream, it indicates that they were afraid of something; something much common with the younger age bracket of human children.

But the screams of two young human children weren't from fear, from what he can tell, the kids were actually _happy._ Nanaki walked a bit closer to where the screams originated from and he saw two kids running away from 2 flying Griffins and 2 Gagihandis. Running towards his direction, to be exact. The children had backpacks slightly bigger than their bodies, outright showing they were travelling, and had expressions of _delight_ on their faces.

"I told you they hate being blasted by ice!"

"And I told you they hate being shocked by Thunder!"

"No, what they hated was the Sleeskee exploding at the sleeping Grand Horn. You must admit it Cloud. It was _funny_."

The two keep on bartering jabs at each other until they saw him, which was then followed by sudden stop from the two. Sensing the Griffins and Gagihandis approaching his and the kids position, Nanaki called out to the two kids. "Hurry up! There are monsters behind you two!"

Magic was then felt being cast, signaled by the sudden lightning bolt coming from the blond and a tornado from the black haired kid. The one with the sword turned around slashed his sword. Which confused Nanaki until a cry from one of the Griffins was heard and he noticed a gash at one of its wings, something that wasn't there before.

"Should we finish this, Cloud? We had our fun already," the black haired kid remarked. Nanaki could see the kid was primarily a magic user based on his apparent lack of weapons on his person, except for the sturdy looking gloves and boots which Nanaki surmised were used for close combat situations, and from the surge of magic he could feel from the kid's hands. Materia equipped in his bracers were glowing, signaling the use of magic.

"No, _you_ had your fun, Ver! I was just roped into your mess!" the blond whose name was Cloud, a strange but unique name for a human, replied back. He then sighed. "Yeah, we should." Cloud then raised his sword, which had _runes_ on it and Materia equipped around its hilt, and slashed at the air, a purple colored Materia glowing and making a streak of light every time the sword was moved. The flying Griffins then cried out in pain from the sudden appearance of wounds on their bodies.

"Geez, you sourpuss," Ver, the black haired kid, said with a tone of resignation. He then released the pent up energy from the Materias and an attack struck the remaining monsters. Fireballs started hitting the Gagihandis and honed at them when they tried to evade the barrage. A ball of energy followed the fireballs, honing on the monsters and when it reached them, a sudden surge of ice and frost came out below them, launching up in the air. Ver seemed to pause in his series of magic attacks, prompting Nanaki to turn his attention back to kid.

The kid had his eyes closed and his face was in a serious expression. His Materia in his bracers were still glowing and Nanaki could feel something _rise_ in their surroundings. At the exact moment the Gagihandis almost touched the ground, Ver opened his eyes and raised his arm towards the monsters, as if directing his magic towards them.

A strong bolt of electricity came out from the kid's arms, hitting the 2 Gagihandis. Their cries were short as the bolt ran its course through their bodies in a very short time, evident by their smoke coming out of their mouths. Green mist began then cover up the 2 monsters, the Lifestream taking back the monsters to itself.

Nanaki was almost shocked by the sheer power the black haired kid had. Keyword: almost. He already saw how devastating magic could be but Nanaki had to give credit where its due. To think a kid, a mere _human kid_ , could wield it in such a manner surprised him.

The other kid's slashes stopped seconds after the Lifestream finished retrieving the Gagihandis. The two Griffins that were on the receiving end of his strange attacks fell down to the ground and the Planet went on claiming their bodies.

Cloud then sheathed back his sword and went towards Ver, dragging the kid by the straps of the backpack he had on his back. "W-Wait a minute, Cloud! I'm still catching my breath!" the kid whined, resisting the pull of the other. His feet were then scrambling to get away but it only led Cloud to effort more on his pull.

"I'm the one who **should** be tired! Not you. Come on, the town is close. You can rest all you want there," Cloud quipped back to the shorter kid, still intent on dragging Ver to Cosmo Canyon. Ver sighed and reached out to his brother's hand on his back pack. As if a silent message was received, Cloud released his hold on the strap. The black haired kid then turned around and walked behind Cloud.

The two passed Nanaki, not noticing his presence nor any recognition to his strange appearance. Nanaki guessed they forgot he was even there or were just too exhausted to notice the orange-colored individual around them. As the two kids went on following the path towards Cosmo Canyon, Nanaki followed them.

It was his duty to watch out for any monster attacks and any visitors. And he is quite curious about the two. They were a bit too young for traveling alone and the sheer skill both the two had in fighting the monsters implied they had experience in fighting them. Not to mention the skill the black haired kid had on using magic.

Well, he was thinking he would be bored out of his mind on doing his routines that morning. Then this happened. It was interesting and honestly, Nanaki is intrigued by the two kids. Might as well, see what the two's goal in visiting Cosmo Canyon.

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The two were planning to travel to Midgar, or at least somewhere at the Eastern Continent. From what he overheard from their discussions at the lounge of Shildra Inn that night, they were on a self-appointed quest to find their own fortunes. Or something along those lines. Human children speak a very unique language that even the adults of their species couldn't comprehend them, much less get a hold of the pronunciations they used.

Nanaki expected the parents of the kids would arrive a few hours after the two made their way through the town but it seemed the two don't have their parents with them. It was even more emphasized when he overheard the item shop attendant asked them the same thing and the reply he heard was, "My brother is the only one in this world with me now. So that's why we are going to explore the world! Aaaand maybe check out Kalm? I think we had a family there."

They also seemed to have spent some time on the road based on what he had found following the two. Nanaki followed the two after he requested Nascha to take over his patrol for the meantime. He discovered that they had travelled for some time before coming to Cosmo Canyon, evidenced by their worn out footwear and slightly torn clothes, which were immediately replaced by a brand new set of boots and clothes at the only clothing shop in the entire Cosmo Canyon. They also had a collection of monster parts, showing that they had fought various monsters on their way to Cosmo Canyon's hub center and discovered could earn money by selling them, which were sold at the weapon smith, pharmacy and the general store of Cosmo Canyon.

Cloud, the apparent elder sibling, mostly took charge of the dealings in selling and buying while Ver, the younger sibling, would be delegated with the task of arranging the bought merchandise in their bags. By the time the two had settled down at the Shildra Inn and bought dinner from Barlow, Nanaki had exhausted himself from his indiscreet actions. Deciding he must at least tell his grandfather about the new visitors/travelers – the number of tourists, travelers and pilgrims to Cosmo Canyon experiences a very steep dive ever since ShinRa waged War at Wutai -, Nanaki returned to his quarters at his grandfather's residence.

Elder Bugenhagen, the oldest of all the elders, the wisest and, frankly, the most experienced of all the elders in Cosmo Canyon, have his residence near the town's and the world's only Planetarium and Observatory. Nanaki was adopted by Elder Bugenhagen after his own father disappeared and his mother died at the Battle against the Gi Tribe; he was single-handedly raised by the old man despite their difference in species. As such, Nanaki always revere the old man as his grandfather ever since.

He noticed his grandfather was still up at the observatory, most likely watching the stars and planets of the universe through the ancient telescope of Cosmo Canyon. Nanaki always wondered why Cosmo Canyon have a _working_ ancient telescope that could observe the planets and the stars out at the vast space of the universe. And there was the big replica of the solar system in the other room that encompasses the whole room. Not to mention the technology in Cosmo Canyon that seemed to be _ancient_ yet and the same time appears to be _futuristic_ , giving off the feeling it was an artifact of a very advanced civilization that was displaced in time.

The elders of both the humans and his tribe once said that those were their inheritance from their ancestors, back when the Cetra used to exist. Much was lost during the passing of time, not even the records kept at the library could tell him about life before the start of the 1st Millennium. The only thing that he found that had proved Cosmo Canyon's technology and establishments was that it was a hidden research center established by the Cetra. Nanaki also recalled that their tribe was said to be the guardians of Cosmo Canyon, but that was it.

Honestly, Nanaki couldn't understand why they must do the semicentennial 'ritual' to appease the Planet if they couldn't understand _why_ they do it the first place. From what he researched, there seems to be a connection between their rituals and the Cetra. It was even reinforced by his discovery of Cosmo Canyon's history, making his theory of their tribe and species were members of the Ancients, or at least a part of their empire or something.

The lack of solid evidence doesn't help though. And that irritates Nanaki. Deneh doesn't mind that she would be staying at the altar somewhere at the vastness of the Canyon for a solid 10 years, which is not really a long time for the kind but still. And Deneh's almost insulting words of him being a coward just makes him…

Making a deep sigh, Nanaki climbed up the ladder to his observatory. It wouldn't really make any difference if he got worked up over Deneh's words. The ritual will still be done as it **_is_** a part of their tribe and kind's culture. However, Nanaki hoped he won't be chosen to be one for he doesn't really want to stay at the altar, doing **_meditation_** for **10 years**.

"Grandfather?" Nanaki called out. "Grandfather, are you there?" No response, not even a shuffle can be heard as Nanaki successfully landed to the second floor of the building. He noticed that the entire floor was a mess: papers scattered over floor, his grandfather's clothes all strewed atop over his bed and stack of paper boxes, which Nanaki assumed to be take-out meals from the Shildra Inn. "…He only acts like this when he notices something strange."

Making his way towards the small ladder leading to his grandfather's personal room in the observatory, he called out, "…Hey! OLD MAN! YOU ATE TAKE OUT AGAIN?! YOU KNOW ITS BAD FOR YOU HEALTH!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING OLD MAN?! THIS OLD MAN FED YOU HALF-EATEN MEAT WHEN YOU WERE YOUNG! AND WUTAIN IS GOOD FOR ME!"

A bang resounded throughout the entire room and his grandfather came down from his small persona room on his huge ball of Materia. The expression on the old man's face was showing anger but the smile on Elder Bugenhagen unsettled Nanaki.

"You were too focused on your meditations, Grandfather, so I had to resort to calling you those," Nanaki admitted without any shame on his tone but he still ducked his head. Hearing his grandfather scoff, he raised his head and saw the angry expression gone on his face.

"What happened, Grandfather? Something serious? The last time you holed up in your room and ate _take-out_ for lunch and dinner was when ShinRa made their move against Wutai."

Elder Bugenhagen floated towards the scattered papers on the floor and raised his arm, making the Materia glow slightly and the papers to fly to his outstretched hand. "The Planet called me, Nanaki. The Planet told me a Cetra arrived in town and She wants me to talk with the Cetra." Nanaki noticed his Grandfather picked a single sheet of paper from the ones he collected and motioned the rest towards the table at the corner of the room.

"The Planet told me before that the last of Her chosen people is somewhere at the Easter Continent so that means this Cetra the Planet told me to talk to isn't Gast's daughter," his Grandfather said. His Grandfather's eyes seemed to be concentrated on the picture of a human adult printed on the paper.

"Who?" Nanaki asked. He never heard of someone named 'Gast' before and it seemed to this 'Gast' had a history with his Grandfather.

"Oh, I never told you about this before, haven't I? I used to work at ShinRa before they used the Lifestream as fuel. Back then, ShinRa was a small company that used windmills and solar panels to supply power to many people. But then someone at the R&D discovered a node of the Lifestream and thought it would be best used as fuel," his Grandfather disclosed to him. "Gast was one of my coworkers there at R&D. After I resigned, because I can't stand them using the Lifestream, _ignoring_ my reports on the repercussions and the Planet doesn't _want_ me to be with them anymore, ShinRa disposed the windmills and solar panels. Gast helped me bring them to Cosmo Canyon since Cosmo Canyon was too far for ShinRa to reach back then and well…"

Elder Bugenhagen gestured to windows showing the windmills and solar panel plastered over the roofs of the houses and establishments of Cosmo Canyon. "Cosmo Canyon was a small place, Nanaki. Most of the residents who lived here are pilgrims, those who believed in the 'old fables' of The Ancients and The Planet, and your tribe, the Gopsids. Actually, your tribe were the majority of the residents here until..."

His Grandfather shook his head. "That was a story for a different time, Nanaki. Anyway, I had contact with Gast after I left. He was my friend at ShinRa since we were co-workers and he was like my little brother, in a sense. Last I heard from him, he was working against ShinRa after he discovered something about the Calamity and was in a relationship with a Cetra."

"The Planet told me he had a daughter with the Cetra after I noticed his PHS wasn't working anymore. That he died in protecting his daughter after ShinRa discovered his relationship with a Cetra. I guess he hid it from them, that gutsy little scamp," his grandfather chuckled sadly at his reverie. Nanaki kept silent all throughout Elder Bugenhagen's spiel, he had no idea his Grandfather used to work with ShinRa before it became what it was now and had a friend who died to protect his Cetran daughter.

"What about the other Ancients, I mean, the other Cetra?" he asked, curious. He said 'the last of Her chosen people' yet his Grandfather didn't elaborate how it came to that point. "I read that the remnants of their people stayed at the Northern Crater to watch over the Calamity's Seal but how did it reached to the point that your friend's daughter became the last?"

"ShinRa happened," his Grandfather said in a flat tone. "I don't know why or how or when, but they became obsessed with searching for the Cetra and the 'source' of Mako, their term for Lifestream. Without me there, Gast believed in their words and even participated on capturing some of the Cetra at the Northern Continent However, from his last messages, he was disillusioned in the end because he discovered the truth. He also fell in love with the Cetra, rescuing her from ShinRa and hid away."

"Makes me wonder if that was what Fujito did after I sent him away from the town."

"Who?"

"…Nothing of importance Nanaki."

"So… this Gast loved her enough for him to have a daughter with the Cetra. ShinRa was disappointed in the captured Cetras' refusals in aiding them from reaching this 'source' of Mako, I reckon, that they killed them. Am I right, Grandfather?" Nanaki asked.

"Yes. Anyway, this is a good thing you are here. Did anyone came to the town today? I was busy all day deciphering Her words to me. Sometimes I think The Planet forgets that I am not a Cetra but only a mere human." His Grandfather then folded the paper on his hand and hid it in his sleeve. He then floated to the stack of paper boxes he had on the dining table and picked them up in one scoop. "Nanaki, would you be so kind and help me clean up the room?"

Nanaki sighed and went to pick up the clothes his grandfather had scattered in his earlier trance. "Tell the Planet sometimes to schedule Her talks with you. I know it is important but the mess you Grandfather leave in your trances must be followed," Nanaki grumbled.

"Sorry." But the smile on his wrinkled face doesn't show the expression of being sorry.

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After relaying his discovery that day to his Grandfather, Nanaki's interest grew every second Elder Bugenhagen pondered on their next action. According to his Grandfather's words, one of the two boys that came to the town was a Cetra. Or maybe both of them were. No one else came that day to Cosmo Canyon, and most of them weren't expecting at all since most of their usual visitors and tourists often arrive between the months of March and June where the climate of Cosmo Canyon is much cooler than the rest of the year, so the only people his Grandfather and The Planet refer would be the two.

But they're kids, so it would look bad and selfish for them if they ask the two kids to come to the town's hall in the middle of the night. "Nanaki, go to sleep. We'll talk to the two tomorrow. You say they were planning to stay around for some days, right? Then we have a lot of time." Figured his Grandfather would think the same thing as him.

"Alright. You too Grandfather. You now look like you age," Nanaki remarked before he scampered off towards his own quarters. The yell of his Grandfather's ' _Get back here you little scamp!'_ echoed throughout the entire floor and possibly the entire town, but Nanaki doesn't regret it. Not even a little.

His Grandfather knew it too. Even if Nanaki's years of age is around the digit of 30 to 40 years, his physical and psychological development of his body and mind would be equal to a human teenager. He's a teenager amongst his people if one would use the human equivalent. Such that his Grandfather despairs of the idea of him not living up to the point Nanaki could be considered as an adult by his people.

Elder Bugenhagen's expanded lifespan came from the diluted blood of his great-grandparents' Cetra heritage, such that he lived for a century already. But he and Nanaki knew that he couldn't compare it to the lifespan of a Gopsid, who are said were living amongst the Cetra way before the 1st Millennium and had the lifespan of more than 5 decades.

Thus Nanaki's attempts to cheer up his Grandfather in way one would say 'childish'. His Grandfather doesn't mind and both of them wouldn't admit that they enjoy the times they made fun of each other. Keeps away the reminders of Elder Bugenhagen inevitable death.


	4. Cloud: Reminiscence

Their Journey So Far

Cloud always wondered why Master Zangan sent him, though he has an idea Master Zangan had an idea his pet wolf _wasn't_ a pet wolf at all but couldn't ask to confirm it, to Cosmo Canyon when he asked for his opinion. Recently, Cloud could say he know knew why.

Cosmo Canyon is great place to learn new things. Unlike at Nibelheim and its surrounding towns and villages where education is free but the cost of educational materials would lead you even further in debt, Cosmo Canyon is a town that is centered around _education and its application for **free**_. The town's residents drive to learn about the Planet and the world around them endeared them to the rest of the world, and not to mention the amazing surroundings, environment and scenery Cosmo Canyon is located at. It just added to the appeal of Cosmo Canyon: Learning while having fun.

And the people there. Since it **is** a small town – much smaller than Nibelheim, and it was the _capital_ of the Nibel Region -, its residents tend to barter stuff for other stuff. Like for example, bread for some meat and vice-versa. Gil is usually spent on trades and purchases from travelling merchants and the monthly restocks to Gongaga, a town focused on lumber beyond the Ancient Forest.

He could remember how he and Ver managed to get the chance to learn properly. Nibelheim may have a school but now that he knew what are the different levels of education, the one at Nibelheim and the surrounding towns only had a _kindergarten and an elementary school_. It was basically a glorified _daycare_ , place where kids are left to have fun just to pass time. There was a high school once, but by the time the elementary graduates are about to start high school, they are already tasked to help around the various establishments of their parents or finding work to help their families. Since the lack of students and the obvious indifference of any potential teachers in teaching for _free_ , the high school was torn down and the site used then to build a house.

Most of the kids had elementary done by the time they were 12, but not him. The Strife Family couldn't afford to sustain his education for the past 3 years, not to mention he wasn't given much attention to. Cloud and his mom are somewhat the _sole exceptions_ because for some reason, the **entire town** hated their guts. Not to the point that they would deliberately kick them, but they tend to ignore him and his mom.

When Ver came to their life after the Mid-Winter Festival, the same time he was being considered to be flunked out of school by the superintendents, he taught Cloud things he learned through his shaky Midgardian. In return, Cloud taught Ver how to speak proper Midgardian and his mom joined in as well to teach the two of them stuff she learned before she came to Nibelheim, whenever she has time from work.

So when Elder Bugenhagen asked them if they wanted to study at Cosmo Canyon, the both Ver – who had some education from what place he came from – and Cloud – who learned some of the stuff from his adopted brother - immediately agreed.

Though he and his brother had to smooth out some problems before they completely accepted…

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Waking up from a proper bed inside a proper room in a proper building, Cloud couldn't ask for more. After a week of hiking through the canyons of Cosmo Canyon and sleeping inside the caves found scattered throughout the vastness of the canyons, the idea that he and Ver slept on a _very_ comfortable bed with a roof above their head.

He searched for his brother around the room and found no-one. His own bed was slightly disheveled but their bags were still on the floor, leaning on the posts of Ver's bed. Thinking he must have went down from the Inn and was already in the middle of his own breakfast, Cloud moved to stand up but was stopped when something heavy forced itself on his stomach.

Looking down, he saw a bluish white rabbit curled on around on its tail. "Geez, really?" Cloud said incredulously, picking the rabbit up slowly. He rose from the bed and laid back the rabbit on it. Cloud then slightly tickled the rabbit's nose, prompting it to scrunch its nose. He repeated the same action until the rabbit was forced to open its eyes.

"Hey. Wake up. It's morning already. Time for breakfast. See?" He then gestured towards the window, showing the sun shining over the horizon. The sky was getting a red and orange tinge from the sun, slowly replacing the blue hue majority of the sky.

The Happy Rabbit blinked at Cloud twice before it looked towards the window. It then looked at Cloud then at itself. The rabbit did it twice followed by a startling squeak from it. It then jumped from the bed, morphing into a shape Cloud was familiar with.

Ver, after turning back into a human, landed on his two feet and groaned, "H-how many times have I done this, Cloud?"

"That was the fifteenth time you did it, Ver," Cloud replied with a smile on his face. "Come on, it's not that bad. In fact, it's pretty cute." He laughed lightly at the sight of Ver's Happy Rabbit form sleeping over him, curled up around his own tail and on his stomach.

"B-but! What if someone comes to our room and saw me shift accidentally into an animal? The last someone did, you have to convince the old lady she was only seeing things!" Ver then dropped on his bed, face first, and proceeded to stuff his face with the pillowcase.

"Hey, Ver. That's why I'm here, remember?"

"…I know," his brother grumbled, voice muffled from the pillow his face was on. "But that means I was shifting in my sleep. What if I shifted into the Nibel Dragon, Cloud? What if?" He rose up from the bed and went to the bags beside it. "It… It scares me Cloud," the black haired boy admitted as he pulled out a two pair of clothes.

"…Really? Tell me. I really have no idea what it feels turning into an animal or a monster so…" Ver gave him a glare to which he raised both his arms in surrender. "I really have no idea, honestly!" The green-eyed boy's glare lessened as he finished pulling out their change of clothes, towels and soaps.

"…Sorry, Cloud. I… I'm just feeling bad about. I know I shouldn't get worked up on my shifting and that you only know I could but…" Ver then sat back down on his bed with his hands all in the form of a fist on top of his lap. "It's like I'm there but at the same time I'm not. There's someone else there with me and I have to, uh, _be_ me. Um, it's like, uh, tug of war kinda thing?"

"Hmm…" Cloud sat down on his bed, pondering. He never thought much how Ver shifts into an animal before. He was already in his wolf form when they met the first time so he thought that it was all natural in Ver's part. Much like breathing for him and anyone else but it wasn't the case apparently.

"So what happens if you let the _'someone'_ take over?" He asked.

"Uh, um, I _still_ take control of myself but there's things that I don't really know why I do in the animal form. Like licking your face when I'm a wolf. I don't _really_ lick people's face, Cloud. It's disgusting but when I'm in a wolf, it's, uh, _natural_ ," Ver answered. "Lately I can ignore the want to lick your face or chase my tail when I'm a wolf."

"Aha!" Cloud remarked. He got the idea now. "So when you're an animal, you somehow _become_ the animal. Like getting all the mannerisms, right?" Ver stared at him, confusion apparent in his face. "When you turned into a wolf, you ' _become_ ' the wolf. Acting like a wolf but you can control ' _being'_ the wolf, right?" His adopted brother nodded, comprehending his words. "And you say you can control being a wolf now, so that just means you have to train _being_ the animal, Ver!"

His eyes widened. "You became, uh, familiar with being a wolf that you can ignore the habits of a wolf now, right? You just have to do the same thing with the other forms!"

"Huh, so that's why I'm now a Happy Rabbit instead of a Nibel Wolf when I fall asleep!" Ver's delighted shout was so loud that there was a knock and a kick from the next room, followed by a muffled shout of _'There's someone sleeping here, okay?!'._

In a low voice, Ver whispered, "Thanks Cloud. You're the best!"

"That's why I'm here, stupid," Cloud whispered back, leaning to Ver and ruffling further the messed bed hair his brother had. "Someone has to look after you; I didn't know you were having a problem in shifting. Now I know why you weren't shifting lately."

"Hey! Then what are you, if not stupid? A, a, _clod?!_ " the green eyed boy quipped back, pinching Cloud's arm. "Yeah, sorry. I don't want to trouble you, honestly. We are always tired from travelling that I don't want to…"

"Oi, come one, don't be gloomy all of a sudden. We are a family, right? We shouldn't hide stuff from each other, especially when you are troubled with something. Remember Mom said last Christmas?"

"Yeah, _'You two aren't alone, you have each other so do your best to help one another.'_ Too bad Mom's gone though. I bet she would be beet red from all of the stuff we've been through," Ver said in a wistful manner.

"But she would then smile and join in with the running. Try and convince me she wouldn't do that, Ver."

Ver shook his head. "She would do it in a heartbeat while lecturing us on the run."

The two of the lightly laughed. "Come one, let's get some breakfast from the dining area. But we should get a bath first," Cloud said, looking at the clothes he and Ver were wearing. It was dirty from the past day's travelling. "And we need to get our clothes washed."

"I have our brand new clothes ready, Cloud. Where's the key though."

"Here at the table."

Cloud picked up the key from the small side table between the beds while Ver collected their new clothes, towels and soaps from his bed. The two of them descended the stairs of the Shildra Inn, honing towards the bath area of the establishment when Cloud was reminded of something.

"Hey, Ver. Did you notice that my real name sounds so similar to _clod?"_

Ver paused on his steps and slowly turned back to him. Cloud's smirk grew larger as Ver's shocked expression became more apparent.

"No way," Ver whispered.

"Yes way."

Taking the chance to get inside the bath, Cloud scampered off ahead of Ver. His brother was too shocked of the realization that he didn't notice Cloud left him alone at the hallway.

"W-What the…? _Claude Kraus Strife!_ You _**jerk**!"_

Ver's howl was music to Cloud's ears.

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After buying the Cosmo Canyon's equivalent of milk and bread for breakfast, Cloud and Ver decided to get some rest, some down time, from travelling. Ver was fast asleep on the Shildra Inn's couch while Cloud was reading the book they had bought from the travelling merchant at the entrance of the canyons. They had lot of Gil from selling the various monster parts they had got from the monsters they faced along the way to Cosmo Canyon.

Though Ver had to limit himself a _lot_ whenever they faced monsters since they had discovered that whenever _magic_ was the last attack done on the monster before it died, the green mist that usually takes the monsters' bodies would be _faster_ than usual in its retrieval. Now that Cloud understood why Ver decided to throw a lot of magic attacks from the moment they left the last town at the Nibel Region, he couldn't blame his brother for their _significant_ decrease in their income from selling monster parts.

Whenever Ver was in his animal and monster forms, he's limited to the abilities of the animal or monster he shifted to. Like when he's a Nibel Wolf, albeit a white colored one, he can't cast magic so he resorted to various bites and lunges. However, that wasn't the case if Ver shifted into something that _can_ do magic. The Happy Rabbit and the Hellraiser are the best examples.

It was a chance meeting for Cloud and Ver that they had met the Happy Rabbit while it was pure accident in meeting the Hellraiser. Both were rabbits but their comparisons to their _normal_ counterparts ended when the Hellraiser spit out fireballs – Ver said they were _Firagas –_ and the Happy Rabbit healed them and removed any ailments they were suffering from the other enemies in the area – a Curaga and a Esuna, Ver said.

Ver has an ability to copy the abilities and form of an animal/monster whenever he studied and _analyzed_ them, he once said it was like using a Sense Materia – a yellow Materia the two of them found in a room at the last town of the Nibel Region -. He could then ' _shift'_ into that creature, completely changing his body. Lately, some of his animal forms have a unique color scheme that depends on what Ver was wearing before shifting, like a blue streak at the back of the bird when he had a blue jacket on.

"Excuse me, could I bother you two for a moment?" A voice was talking to him, breaking Cloud's concentration on the book he was reading. A book about the recent advances in technology, a trait he had inherited from his mother who worked at ShinRa and at the town as a mechanic/technician/engineer.

"Yes?" Cloud looked up from the book and saw the red, orange(?), lion-like creature. Lions were a local animal in the Southern Easter Continent so the creature in front of him wasn't one. And the creature was _talking_ to him.

"The town's Elder and Leader would like to talk with you and your brother at the town hall," the creature courteously. The creature was intelligent.

"Umm… Who are you?" Cloud asked. Since the creature was intelligent and could _talk,_ it would mean it, no, he, was a _person_. "I'm sorry Mister but I don't know you."

"Kiddo, that's Nanaki. Don't tell me you didn't notice his fiery tail when you came to town yesterday?" the middle-aged man, his name was Barlow if Cloud remembered it correctly, commented from the Inn's front desk, noticing the creature – no it's _Nanaki –_ talking to him. Noticing his lack of recognition, Barlow _snickered_.

"I, uh, sorry…" He ducked his head. "Sorry Mister, I won't do it again." Basic respect and courtesy would always be helpful in the long run.

"It's okay, I was there when you two fought the Griffins and Gagihandis so it is understandable that you two haven't noticed me," Nanaki said, his flaming tail whishing slowly behind him. "Grandfather wants to talk to you and your… brother. Is he sleeping?"

Cloud turned towards the couch and saw Ver's head on the floor while his legs were dangling over the back of the couch, completely unaware of the uncomfortable position he was in.

"Yes he is. Uh, could you wait for a while?"

"We aren't in a hurry. I'll be by Barlow. Go wake your brother." With that, Nanaki left him with his fast asleep brother in the lounge. Cloud stood up and moved towards Ver, slowly shaking him by his shoulders. It took a few shakes before Ver was roused.

"W-What…? Is it lunch…?! H-huh? Cloud? What is it?" Ver asked as his legs slid down from the couch to the floor. "Ow." He slowly stood up and stretched his back and limbs.

"The town's elder asked us to come with Nanaki. Nanaki is the lion-like creature there," Cloud said then pointed to Nanaki, who was having a small talk with the caretaker of the Inn. "His grandfather wants to talk with us, but I have no idea why."

"You think it has to do with the Clear Fluids we sold yesterday? We had the shopkeeper pour it to a different bottle so maybe…"

"Well, whatever it was, we won't know until we go right?"

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The talk, or _the lecture_ according to his brother, started out fine. Nanaki introduced them to the town's leader at the town's hall, which also housed the rumored Observatory of Cosmo Canyon. The old man was sitting on a huge orb of Materia and used it to float around instead of walking. Cloud and Ver was given a 'formal' welcome and were questioned of their adventures before coming to Cosmo Canyon. They weren't even asked about the Clear Fluids Ver collected from the frog-like creatures at the secluded springs they found about 2 days before. The talks were going fine until Elder Bugenhagen asked Nanaki to fetch some things from his quarters. When Nanaki have left the room and ascended to the ground floor – which was a spectacle for Cloud and Ver to watch a four-legged creature climb a _ladder –_ , Ver asked if Nanaki was actually his grandson.

Elder Bugenhagen laughed at Ver's question. "Oh ho ho hoo! Why do you ask young one?" The old man hovered over to the table where a stack of papers was placed on it and pulled out a sheet of paper from it, strangely avoiding the entire column to fall over.

"Um… Because…" A nudge from Ver and he whispered to Cloud. " _If his grandson is a beast and he's a human then maybe they're like me!"_ Ver whispered to him in _English_. Cloud was about to protest, thinking it was too fast for his brother to assume that Elder Bugenhagen and Nanaki were the same as him but he was too late.

In front of Elder Bugenhagen and Cloud, Ver shifted into his Nibel Wolf form. Unlike his other animal forms, his Nibel Wolf form was consistent. No change in color at all, just plain snow white fur.

"Oh my Planet." It seemed that Nanaki was there already, since his exclamation of surprise was heard behind Cloud. Ver noticed Elder Bugenhagen and Nanaki's shocked expressions, he immediately shifted back and hid behind Cloud. In response, Cloud shielded Ver with his body.

No matter how smart Ver is or how he sometimes acts like he's older than his age, Ver is still his younger brother. Even if he could cast magic that is far stronger than him, Ver is Cloud's brother. Even if both of them just met 3 years ago, they have a bond that rivals those who have spent more than 3 years together. Which is why it is _his_ duty to protect his brother, even if sometimes he was the one being patched up in the end. Some things couldn't be matched with magic after all.

So when Elder Bugenhagen and Nanaki made a step closer to them, or hovered in the old man's case, Cloud and Ver backed off.

"Well, that certainly confirms it. That boy is a Cetra, or a descendant of the Cetra," the old man remarked, hovering back to the desk. "Cloud, Ver please calm down. We aren't going to hurt you. So please."

" _I'm so sorry, Cloud. I made a terrible mistake. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry,"_ Ver muttered at his back, making small circles at his backside with his fingers.

" _It's okay, Ver. I'm here. I'm here,"_ Cloud whispered back. " _The old man said you **are** a Cetra. You have an idea what he's saying?"_

 _"Maybe they're the Ancients? You and Mom guessed I was an Ancient, according to the stories, so maybe he **has** an idea."_

 _"So… Should we trust him?"_ Ver didn't answer back. Cloud waited for a minute, still focused on making glares at the hovering old man and the lion-like creature. " _You are the one they wanted to talk to, Ver. So you must decide on what we should do."_

 _"…What about you, Cloud? What do you think? I'm really curious but I made already a mistake and you tried to stop me before so…"_ Ver stopped on making circles on his backside. " _What do **you** think?"_

 _"I think they aren't thinking on hurting you, unlike that old lady at the inn, so yeah. Yeah, lets._ "

Ver stepped back beside Cloud and the two of them walked back to the chairs they were sitting on before Nanaki left the room.

"Hm… Excuse me but you were speaking in a language I think I'm familiar with a while ago. Where did you two learned it?" Elder Bugenhagen asked them after a minute of silence.

"…Ver taught it to me, and I think Mom had learned it before. Ver said it was _English_ but Mom said it was some language her father learned from his Language lessons. Mom said her father was a researcher at some place at the Eastern Continent before she went to Nibelheim."

"Hm…" Elder Bugenhagen went silent for almost a minute before he spoke, "Well then, would you believe if I think your brother is a Cetra?"

Cloud and Ver shared a look and spoke at the same time, "Isn't he?" "Am I not?"

The old man on the floating Materia _face-palmed_ and made a deep sigh.

"I should have gone and asked directly. They _are_ kids. What was I thinking?"

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Elder Bugenhagen was actually a descendant of some Cetras who used to live in Cosmo Canyon. He may be old but he still has the knowledge of the Cetras in his brain, making him super important in Cosmo Canyon. There used to be more descendants of the Cetra like him living in the area but many went to the Northern Continent to pursue other duties than to watch and research the skies, leaving Elder Bugenhagen and about 20 descendants in Cosmo Canyon. Barlow was one of them.

However, he was the only one left that could hear The Planet. There used to be a way to 'start-up' the connection between the descendants to The Planet but time has taken the knowledge how to do it. Barlow and the others could only get vague impressions from The Planet but nothing concrete to point out the exact message.

Cloud and Ver followed Elder Bugenhagen and Nanaki to a cave deep below the town, passing through tunnels that were carved smoothly out of the rocks. The four initially brought torches fired up by Fire Materia but Ver volunteered to use his _magic_ instead. Cloud was thankful for his brother's offer since he knew that Ver's Flash could be shaped into a floating solid ball of light, resembling a light bulb, that gives a bright and clear light.

The old man and the fire-cat, now that Ver and Cloud noticed the flaming tail of his, were both amazed by his brother's skills, to which Cloud mentally laughed. What Ver was showing was just simple skills the two of them discovered on the way to Cosmo Canyon. There's a reason why he could wield the Rune Sword when its original size was much longer than his leg.

With several balls of light illuminating the way, the four of them made us of the lighting to gander at the various designs that were 'sketched' on the tunnel walls. No man could create an outline of a tree on tunnel roof so he, Ver and Nanaki have doubts whether or not people actually sketched the walls themselves. Elder Bugenhagen was silent throughout the entire walk, silently taking in the sight of the strange drawings.

Cloud thought that maybe Elder Bugenhagen had been in these tunnels way before the three of them were born, since he was making the same face as Master Zangan; back when he and Ver were packing up and found pictures of his dad at the storage closet of their house at Nibelheim. Ver and Nanaki were talking to each other, Ver asking questions about the fire-cat and Nanaki answering back, when they reached a clearing.

The three of them didn't notice that there was sunlight coming through a huge hole in the tunnel roof. With the bright orbs of light floating near the tunnel roof, simulating daylight, Cloud, Ver and Nanaki were shocked to see a pedestal in front of a Mako Spring. Elder Bugenhagen was there near the Mako Spring and was solemnly looking at.

"ShinRa used to try in convincing the Cosmo Canyon residents in letting them build a Mako Reactor in the area. It didn't go well, obviously," the old man slowly spoke, hovering now over the pedestal overlooking the Mako Spring.

"People complained and even fought tooth and nail to stop them. But the deciding factor for ShinRa not to build one wasn't the people." He then placed his palm on one of the three pointy rock formations on the pedestal. "It was the environment."

"We never thought to use the environment as a reason but The Planet really works in mysterious ways." Elder Bugenhagen sighed. "Cosmo Canyon is **_rich_** in, what do they call it again… Mako? Yes, Mako, Cosmo Canyon was discovered to be **_rich_** in Mako through their researches. I guess they questioned and disposed a lot of our residents in their quest, since I noticed many went missing during those times."

He then hovered off the pedestal and went on to the other end of the circular atrium. The three of them followed the old man, looking at each other with curiosity on their faces.

"What's with him, Nanaki? Did something happen before?" Ver asked.

"Something _did_ happen before. Many of our residents and my fellow tribe members disappeared during the time when ShinRa was searching for potential Mako Reactor locations," Nanaki answered, leading the Cloud and Ver towards Elder Bugenhagen.

"Then what did he meant by the environment?" Huh. He didn't ask what happened to the missing people? Well, Ver is smart and their mom _did_ die so…

"Cosmo Canyon is full of canyons, cliffs, ridges, swamps, springs, rivers and bedrocks. There are even swamps at some places and honestly, we haven't scouted the Region **completely**. With monsters at almost every corner and the weather affecting the terrain through wind and water erosion, the paths constantly change itself." Nanaki then rolled a rock on his paw. "Then there's this. You see this rock right?"

Cloud and Ver nodded. Nanaki then stepped on it, causing the rock to break and shatter.

"That what happens in these areas, too much pressure on the ground and it will collapse. In fact, that what pretty much created Cosmo Canyon as it is now. The ground collapsed on itself," Nanaki said in a matter-of-fact tone. "That's why we build houses _in_ naturally made caves and work around it or atop locations with solid foundation, like the Observatory."

"So that's why the town is so high. They're built on hard solid hills!" Ver inferred, green eyes shining with enthusiasm. It's been a while since Cloud saw that expression.

"Not exactly correct but close enough." Nanaki then walked faster towards the direction Elder Bugenhagen went to. "Come on you two. Grandfather must be waiting."

Ver looked at Cloud and sprinted towards the floating orbs at the distance. "Hey, there's one at the back. You sensed it right?" Ver called out. Cloud nodded. His brother then conjured a pair of Flash orbs for him and allowed them to hover near, fixed on Cloud and would follow him to supply light.

Cloud smirked and calmly stood still, grasping the Rune Sword sheathed and attached at his belt. He then turned around, pulled out the sword and slashed at the Gagihandi stalking behind him a few meters away. A purple streak of light flashed temporarily before disappearing.

The monster fell down with a cry, its stomach slashed. Cloud repeated his action, targeting the head instead. Another cry and the monster was dead. He then used the Sense Materia equipped on his sword, with the Fire Materia switched with it, sensing no more monsters lurking at the corner.

"Well, you certainly got the hang of the Long Range Materia. Don't you dare lose it, Cloud," Ver intoned, imitating their late mom's position when scolding them. Cloud just laughed.

"I won't, okay? It's really useful. How come I never saw anyone use this Materia when it is _super_ _useful_?"

"Well, maybe it's rare? I think we got lucky when I got that from the Materia mine at Mt. Nibel. I mean, imagine this, Cloud." Ver then made flailing motions with his arms as if acting out sword slashes. "If your enemy is just slashing there so far away from you and for some reason it **hits** you all the time, wouldn't you want to take away what allows them to hit you?"

"…And I'll destroy whatever it is so no one could use it again. That's stupid."

"Yeah, it is."

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The next area they came to was some sort of bunker, with books and other documents. Cloud saw one on the TV at Nibelheim before their mom had to sell it. Elder Bugenhagen was waiting for him, Ver and Nanaki there, with him hovered at front of some weirdly shaped poster.

Nanaki stepped closer to his grandfather – something Cloud and Ver could understand since both of them are _brothers in all but blood –_ and asked, "What's that Grandfather?"

"It's one of the old documents that my father and grandfather used to read before they decided to store away. Back then, the Gi tribe were attacking the settlement and were torching anything they could see."

"Gi Tribe?" Ver voiced out.

"Another story for another time, little Cetra. Anyway, could you two come closer and see if you could read this for me? I think the writings here are something you could understand."

Ver looked at him and Cloud nodded. The two of them walked towards the strange table, their respective Flash orbs floating overhead. What they saw on the weird looking paper was some familiar lines and shapes. They look like Midgardian but they **aren't** Midgardian. The only thing Cloud knew that _looked like_ Midgardian but wasn't is…

"H-Hey, is that? It's _English!_ " Ver shakily exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Cloud agreed. He now remembered where he saw it. Back when Ver first came to them in his rags and tried to tell them his name. Mom understood some of Ver's words and writing which led to Cloud and his mom to learn _English_ from Ver. "How?! But I can't understand some words here. What's _asynchronous_?"

But Ver's knowledge on _English_ was shaky at best since he was only 7 at that time; then again, from where Ver came from, _English_ was being spoken everywhere. Well, Ver claimed it so Cloud wouldn't know if it was a _fact_ or something Ver _believed._

"…Just as I suspected. I was told by my parents about an entire city of our people that mysteriously disappeared when using the inter-city transport system," Elder Bugenhagen stated as he looked back toward the poster.

"An inter-shitty what?" Ver's face was in an unreadable shape. "Ummm.. are there any _English_ language books here? I mean, if these are in _English_ then that means there are more, right?"

Elder Bugenhagen nodded and hovered to another part of the room. He then grabbed a door _– there was a door there, how and why was a door there?_ \- and dust began to fly inward from the tunnels. After they had coughed out the dust that somehow blew out and into the small pocket in the tunnel, Cloud saw a _tower_ of books and some… ancient(?) gadgets.

"From my time in ShinRa, I was in contact with their Foreign Relations Department and from there I learned that Midgardian, which is now the globally accepted language, originated from the Flemish of Kalm Region. Well I heard it also originated from Deccan of the Condor Region," Elder Bugenhagen said, levitating a stack of books to the strange looking table. "My point is that all of those languages came from a single language. The rest of the world have different dialects and accents but the form is still the same."

"My father once said that the Cetra spoke a language so similar to what we are now using but it was forgotten as time passed by. It didn't die, so to say, but it changed into what we are now speaking."

"…So it's like cooking?" Ver asked with his head tilted. Cloud was tempted to face-palm right there when he understood what Ver was asking.

"Yeah, it's like cooking. _English_ is the raw meat and time is the flame. Oil is the people and when time and people are joined together, you get cooked meat which is Midgardian. It's not raw meat but at the same time it is still meat." Cloud sighed. "Where do you even get these… what you call it again? Similes? Metaphors? They're weird Ver. Weird."

"Aw… Don't be like that Cloud. It describes what happened to _English_ and how it looked like Midgardian, right?"

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After that, it was a blur. Elder Bugenhagen let the two of them read, translate and study the books that were hidden in the bunker. The old man also explained the thing about a city of Cetras that disappeared. He guessed that they were transported to the same place where Ver came from.

The Cetra before had some weird gadgets that allowed them to move instantly to one place from another, like the stories of teleportation. But since Ver _came out of thin air_ when they first met, Cloud was willing to believe the people living before the First Millennium had some **amazing** gadgets and things.

Ver and Cloud came back to the town, backpacks full of books to read, with Nanaki and Elder Bugenhagen walking by them. They also brought some books and other strange documents – _looked like what the cranky old lady at Mulheim's Inn was writing at –_ with them. When the four reached the old man's residence, the two of them went on reading the books like they had no water for hours. Except the water was books.

Well, it was mainly Ver's fault for making a hole in their tumblers after he played with the idea of iced water. The tumblers broke from the ice and they had no tumblers until they reached the next town.

Ver went into reading the various documents while Cloud dived into reading the _English_ manuals first. His brother had some knowledge on _English_ already unlike Cloud who was still stumbling on some words. In the end, both of them managed to understand the majority of the words, with Elder Bugenhagen and Nanaki helping them by giving them the Midgardian equivalent of some words.

Searching and understanding 'context clues' was something both of them became so good at ever since Cloud was dropped out of school due to the lack of Gil. Ver also had no chance to continue since he was not a resident of Nibelheim. He also had no records on his name.

Cloud will take care of that when they managed to get into the Eastern Continent though. The Eastern Continent was said to be the capital of the entire world, _urbanized_ unlike the Western Continent's _country and rural environment_.

It was some luck when the two of them _deciphered_ a strange document. Something about 'power generators' and 'emergency shutdown procedures'. From what Ver had understood was that there was a power generator in Cosmo Canyon and it used a huge Materia. A Huge Materia, a type of Materia referenced in the books that was… well, _huge_.

Which kinda make sense to Cloud. Cosmo Canyon must have some sort of energy source before Elder Bugenhagen brought back the windmills and solar panels. Some of the stuff lying around some building in Cosmo Canyon wasn't even connected to the electric power lines from the windmill and solar panel station. The Observatory at Elder Bugenhagen's house was the major example of something that seemed to be _there_.

From what Cloud had understood at his part of the document, it also had to do with the strange Mako Spring they passed by on the way to the bunker. After he deciphered it, they realized what the strange document was saying.

Convincing Elder Bugenhagen to remove himself on the Huge Materia – _it was there the whole time and no one questioned why he was on a big orb of **Materia** – _ was an _ordeal_ but after some arguments, mostly led by Nanaki who was surprisingly interested in Cloud and Ver's theory, they managed to take away the Huge Materia and bring it back to the pedestal.

Ver had the honor of placing back the Huge Materia on the pedestal overlooking the Mako Spring while the three of them watched. Elder Bugenhagen, who was walking for the first time in _decades_ , watched with a curious expression on his face. Cloud was beside himself in anticipation since from the document he and his brother deciphered, it was like a switch to power up the old power lines of Cosmo Canyon. _Ancient_ power lines, ones that ran through the ground, sustained by the power of The Planet. So to see first-hand what the Cetra had before they disappeared was one thing Cloud wouldn't want to miss.

And he wouldn't even forget it, **ever.** The moment the Huge Materia was placed on the pedestal and he activated it, channeling his _magic_ to the orb, the Mako Spring below it began to _rumble_. The pedestal began to glow under the Materia, lines 'sketched' on it started to have a green glow _flowing down_ towards the ground. Down the elevated pedestal, running towards the Mako Spring, making hidden 'sketches' appear in its green glow. It lines reached the Mako Spring and the 'green' flowed towards the spout of the spring.

The Mako Spring _erupted,_ the green liquid flew upwards and outwards, but it didn't go out a certain range.

Instead, it _crystalized_. Forming into a tower of crystal Mako, it swirled upwards towards the Materia a few meters above it. The crystalizing Mako then encased the pedestal, forming a glass-like container for it. It didn't stop there.

The tower went on, swirling to the atrium's roof. For some reason, it didn't form into a pillar but it _arced_ itself, forming a circular bowl of crystal with a hole on its center where the Materia and the Spring was. The crystal reached the atrium's roof and embedded itself to it.

Nanaki gasped as they saw the 'sketches' in the cave and the tunnel to glow with various lights. The drawing of the tree on the tunnel roof a few meters beyond their position seemed to light up the entire tunnel. The exact thing was happening to the other tunnels in the area, some even they didn't notice when they came by the first time. It was like someone switched on the lights on the tunnels for it was so bright.

Ver, who was still up on the pedestal, had his jaw wide open at the brand new appearance of the atrium. Even Cloud was amazed. What was once an empty open space in a tunnel with an open hole in its roof and a large Mako Spring at the center, it now had a crystal pillar stemming from the Mako Spring. The pillar branched out from the spring into arcs that now gave the illusion of them supporting the roof. The crystal, that were once green from the Mako, was now in a translucent white color, much like the ice crystals they found in the cave of Mt. Nibel, and periodically seemed to 'beat' with a green glow.

The green eyed boy tapped on the crystal box-like container of the Materia, one that was part of the strange crystal tower, and it _glowed._ His brother immediately cupped his hands because an orb of light began to form outside the transparent screen and slowly moved to him. It started as small but it grew bigger and bigger until it was the same size as the Materia inside the crystal _pillar_.

"Well," Ver started. "Look like the old man could enjoy floating again."

The four of them laughed, even Elder Bugenhagen.

"Wonderful. Just Wonderful," the old man shakily rasped out, his face flushed with apparent joy and _wonder_. "This… I can't believe it."

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"The people living here before didn't have any source of power before I came back with the windmills and solar panels. Everyone here were using wood from the Ancient Forest for the fire and other things," the old man told them as Nanaki, Ver, and Cloud was with him at the _completely functioning_ Observatory of Cosmo Canyon.

The machines were blinking and making noises Cloud identified as some sort of technological heartbeat around the entire room. What all of the residents in Cosmo Canyon thought as a slab of hard smooth rocks were actually _screens_ of some of the machines that were _part_ of the wall. According to some of the workers and researchers that lived in Cosmo Canyon, they were machines that track various variables in the ecosystem around Cosmo Canyon. Or something along those lines.

Both him and Ver were already making progress in learning _English_ and Midgardian, but it still not yet to the level where they could 'comprehend' the words used by the researchers and scientists.

"The Mako Spring back there was actually a part of the power generators of Cosmo Canyon and was used way back before the First Millennium," Elder Bugenhagen said. "Maybe my grandparents' parents removed the Materia when the Gi Tribe attacked the settlement, am I right you two?"

"Yep," Ver answered. "They removed the Materia to stop power in Cosmo Canyon in order to fool the Gi Tribe. But I guess they forgot to return it? Or they had fun floating on it?" He then pointed to the Materia Elder Bugenhagen was sitting on comfortably.

"Ver… Are you jealous?"

"No, not really… Maybe?"

Elder Bugenhagen laughed at the two of them. "My legs are weak but yours are still strong. Let me have the pleasure of floating around on this thing."

Ver pouted and shifted into his Happy Rabbit form. He then jumped on Cloud's head and sat on it. "Really Ver?" The rabbit gave him a look that silently said, ' _Try me.'_

"Anyway, I'm very thankful for the discovery you two found. I never realized that the Materia was, no, _should_ be used back there," the old man remarked after Cloud brushed off Ver off his head and back to his seat. "Maybe that's why ShinRa had the idea to use the Lifestream in the first place. Either they had misunderstood the **actual** purpose of the Springs or decided to experiment with it, the fact remains that ShinRa had been correct in the idea of the Lifestream as a source of power.

"Perhaps they were like me, had no idea of what the **actual** use of the Springs and the Huge Materias. Huge Materias are huge and couldn't be used normally since they are too big so the idea they are used as 'power converters' of the Lifestream is amazing."

"Elder Bugenhagen!"

The four of them turned around to the voice that called out. There was a man, a researcher probably, standing at the doorway with a very tired looking expression on his face. He was sweating more than usual – _and Cosmo Canyon **is** hot, like Nibelheim **is** cold -,_ probably from running or sprinting since he immediately leaned on the entrance arc of the Observatory.

"E-Elder! Chocobos!"

"…What?" All four them asked.

"Ch-Chocobos! They're here!"

Nanaki and Elder Bugenhagen then sprinted, or in the old man's case, hovered, out of the Observatory, leaving Cloud and Ver with the evidently exhausted researcher. Cloud helped the researcher on a seat while Ver went to the large and strange 'consoles' of the Observatory.

"Um… What's with the Chocobos sir? And why do you look like you ran all the way up from the base of the Canyon?" Cloud asked.

The man replied, "E-ever since the power came back to Cosmo Canyon yesterday, changes began to happen in the area. The tributaries, the small rivers, in the Canyon began to have more water flowing from the top of the mountain. Some parts of the Canyon began to have plants sprouting, those places didn't have plants there for _decades_ or even _centuries_ , kid." He huffed, catching his breath, and Cloud went to the small table where there was a water jug. Cloud served the researcher with a glass of water and the man continued, "Records stated that some animals lived here in the Canyon but for some reason, they left. But now! With plants growing and water began to flow much stronger, they're returning! And the first to come are the Chocobos!"

"Are these Chocobos?" Ver voiced out behind him. Cloud turned around and saw Ver pointing to a screen where three large birds are feeding on some plants. The large birds are somewhere on top of a cliff; Cloud could see the town behind the birds.

"…How did you change the screens? And how could they show it? Aren't there supposed to be cameras, like in TV?"

Ver answered, "It's not that hard Cloud. There are buttons here have labels and I pressed on the ' _Camera 76'_. It's at the upper right one." He turned to him and shook his head. "I don't really know Cloud, maybe they're hidden? I just pressed the buttons here until I saw those birds. I think I saw Nanaki on one screen, on ' _Camera 64'_."

The black haired boy pressed a button and a screen changed itself into a view of the edge of the town. Cloud could see Elder Bugenhagen and Nanaki looking to the birds at the distance.

"Cool."

"Hey, Cloud. There aren't any Chocobos at the Nibel Region, right?"

"I heard it's a bit too cold for them. Why?"

"I think the Chocobos copied your hair. I mean, look at them. They're like too similar."

"…Shut up."

"Just saying."

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Suffice to say, Cosmo Canyon had power from The Planet, the one being used by the Cetras before they disappeared, on top of the windmills and the solar panels. Plants began to grow at the most difficult places where they didn't grow before and water from the highest mountain of the Canyon began to increase in its flow.

Though many feared ShinRa will notice the change in Cosmo Canyon in the future, they were reassured by the idea they could hide the Materia behind the _ancient_ power source of Cosmo Canyon. The Huge Materia could be removed from the pedestal, shutting down the entire Canyon just like how their ancestors did during the War between the Gi Tribe and the Gopsid Tribe.

He and his brother stayed at Cosmo Canyon, under the tutelage of several researchers, scholars and Elder Bugenhagen, learning new things from them. The two of them studied the _forgotten language of English_ and tried to teach it to others, so that they could understand the books. Cloud and Ver didn't spend all of their time studying all of the time too.

Since _life_ seemed to 'return' to the dry and windy area of Cosmo Canyon, the monsters also seemed to increase, taking advantage of the returning animals. Cloud and Ver joined with the other fighters and engineers of the town, along with Nanaki, in visiting the various windmills and solar planes scattered over the area. Cloud and Ver learned how to tinker with the machines and how they work during their time with the residents of Cosmo Canyon and practiced their skills in fighting the monsters.

Ver acquired some new animal forms from 'scanning' the animals returning to Cosmo Canyon and practiced to control his other monster forms, like the Hellraiser and the Nibel Dragon. The first time he tried shifting into the Nibel Dragon in Cosmo Canyon was met with fear and curiousness. Fear because of the _dragon_ while curiousness because of the _young_ dragon. His brother seemed to have adapted the Nibel Dragon's form by shifting into a form that was easier for him to control, a younger form of a dragon that was at the same level of maturity of Ver.

He also practiced his magic, either from the Materia they managed to collect from the newly discovered Materia Mine or the magic from the monsters and animals they met.

Cloud also practiced in wielding his sword to an acceptable degree. There were some sword users in the town and volunteered to help the blond kid in properly using the sword. Thanks to his brother who Mini-ed the sword and helped him how to change the sword gradually to its former size, Cloud developed a trick with the Magic Materia. After he applied Mini on his sword, thus making it smaller and _lighter,_ he would then use the sword on the monsters.

The trick was to remove the Mini _on_ the blade portion of the sword when he strikes and apply it again after the strike, which would surprise the monster at the sudden enlargement of the wound especially when the sword was **smaller** than the wound. It was a bit difficult, especially since he wasn't that good with magic like Ver, but he managed to do so in the end. Mainly because he discovered he was good in subtle magic, unlike Ver who was more on _quantity_ than _quality._

Ver tended to _overpower_ his magic and most of the times, he does it _intentionally_. He also had the capacity to do so, unlike Cloud who couldn't cast several Thundagas in a row. Make Cloud cast a Blizzaga at a certain part of a monster and he will hit it accurately, encasing the monster's part completely while make Ver cast a Blizzaga, he would instead cast 3 to 5 Blizzagas in a row which would encase the monster in ice. He couldn't hit it accurately so he would resort to cover everything surrounding the target.

The Rune Sword his brother found and gave to him was also very helpful since magic seemed to flow at its blade, allowing Cloud to 'channel' magic through it. He discovered it during his fights against the weird birds that arrived a few weeks after power returned to Cosmo Canyon. He forgot to release the Blizzara he charging when he rushed the mechanical bird. His sword glowed slightly and his strikes formed _sharp_ ice crystals at the slashed areas. Cloud noticed the effect disappeared after the glow went away, which led to him experimenting on 'channeling' Fires and Thunders.

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He and his brother decided to travel again, a few months after they arrived at Cosmo Canyon. Mainly because they still have to check Kalm if their mom's family was still there. Other reason was that they're sick of the sight of the canyons and wanted to do more exploring.

The two of them experienced travelling for a month after leaving Nibelheim and they loved the feeling of nature around them. The new sights they see and the wonder of being _independent_.

Elder Bugenhagen and Nanaki, who they grew close to in the past months, understood their reasons and whole-heartedly helped them pack their things. Even the residents of Cosmo Canyon were sad to see them go but they didn't make any complaint about. When Cloud asked _Grandfather_ why, he answered, "It was because you two traveled that you helped us regain what we lost before. All of us here may want you two kids to stay but we knew that you only stopped to study."

Cloud and Ver dropped their heads at _Grandfather's_ words, ashamed to admit that they _did_ stopped because they wanted to learn, but Elder Bugenhagen's next words made them think otherwise. "And we are glad you two did."

"Knowledge is meant to be spread so we packed a couple of books for you to read in the future. Yes, we Mini-ed them so there's a lot of extra books for you two to read," the old man said, gesturing to the small bag they were handed with. "Also, here."

The old man handed them 3 orbs of Materia, 2 green and one red. "They're the Master Magic Materias. Thanks to the translations, we discovered all _Mastered_ Magic Materia could be condensed into a single Materia." He turned to Ver after that. "Thanks to the Materia you _Mastered_ ," there Ver blushed lightly, "we have a lot of Master Magic Materia in our reserves."

"Use it. The red one is a Bahamut Summon." Noticing their confused expressions, Elder Bugenhagen explained, "Bahamut is an ancient summon. No one in our town could summon Bahamut and honestly, I would think Bahamut would be overjoyed to be summoned again after decades of inactivity."

His brother looked at the sole red Materia he had on his bracer. "I see you have a Summon already but I insist you take it."

Cloud took the three Materias and gave the slightly dark green Materia and the red Materia to Ver. He then inserted the Master Magic Materia to his brand new bracer as Elder Bugenhagen continued, "Now that we have given you what you two would certainly need in the future, I pray to The Planet of your safety. Nanaki, would you want to join them at the end of the Canyon?"

Nanaki nodded and moved closer to the two of them. "Come on, let's go."

The people Cloud and Ver met in their stay at Cosmo Canyon waved their hand in farewell as he, Nanaki and Ver walked down the trail from the settlement and through the towering walls of the Canyons.

"You two want to go to Gongaga next, correct? So you will pass through the Ancient Forest. Word of advice, don't get touched by the frogs because you will turn into a frog."

"Yes Nanaki, we heard stories of the Touch Mes from the fighters," Cloud remarked as he cast a Fira at a monster.

"Well, don't blame me if you get turned into a frog. I don't know about Ver here if he could turn into a frog since he **could** turn into one naturally."

Ver snorted as he flung a slab of ice to another monster. "Some Cetras are immune to 'status effects' so I guess I could be one, right? I mean, I haven't got Stopped when Cloud cast it on me but he got Stopped when I did."

"Yeah, but you still got Poisoned by the Dragon Flowers."

"Hey, I never thought they _were_ monsters."

"Anyway," Nanaki interrupted. "You two will find the other Cetra at the Eastern Continent, correct?"

"Uhuh!" Ver confirmed. "Since I _am_ a Cetra, my abilities and my language as proof, I want to meet the other member of my 'family'. Besides, wasn't that the reason why we left, Cloud?"

Cloud hummed in agreement. "It's one. I think we decided that our goal originally was to be rich. Or be fortunate. I forgot."

"…Hm.. Being rich doesn't sound too bad, right?"


	5. Genesis: Be Desperate

Resounding Rumors

Gossip. From the Housewives' Association of Midgar to the 2nd Class SOLDIERs, no one could escape from the power of gossip. They could either contain the most precious truth disguised as mere rumors or the most disgusting lies velvet-wrapped as promises. Genesis Rhapsodos actually hoped the gossip, or rumor as it was also called, he heard from the secretaries at the Floor 51 was true.

Apparently there was a rumor going around Midgar, which he missed since he just recently returned from Wutai, that there was a well somewhere in the Slums that holds a special type of water. Not the one being processed at Sector 7, but _actual_ water coming from the ground. Genesis doubt the credibility of the rumor, especially when it's latter part went into the realms of superstition; the Slum Guardians 'guard' the sacred well, preventing anyone not worthy of coming close to its miraculous waters, really turned the rumor into an urban superstition.

The secretary who heard it from her friend at the cafeteria of Floor 37, who heard it from his friend who works as a mechanic at the Sector 6 Reactor, who heard it from her cousin who lives at the Sector 5 Slums.

It wasn't hard tracking down the root of the rumors but it was certainly a hassle. However, if the rumor was actually true then everything would be worth in the end.

Genesis was getting desperate. Ever since the day he had that spar with Sephiroth at the Training Room, his wound that would usually heal up instantly didn't close. To make matters worse, he was feeling pain. Pain that can be felt all over his body and the area around his wound had the greatest concentration of all.

Which was strange and very confusing for Genesis. Ever since he was young, he would heal quite fast. The same could be said for his best friend Angeal. And when they joined SOLDIER, any injuries he received would be healed immediately.

And the pain. Genesis was familiar with pain, with him being a 1st Class SOLDIER and defeated countless Wutain _ninjas_ with his arms hurting him from overexertion in the end. But the pain he felt rocked him to his core. It was not just his body that was experiencing it. His _soul_ , if he used his imagination, is being affected as well.

Despite the not-healing wound and the excruciating pain, he went on doing his duty as a _hero_. Fighting as the Commander of SOLDIERs at Wutai was going fine until the last 'symptom' of his mysterious ailment came.

Memory loss.

It didn't come in an instant. It started with Genesis forgetting the date of his deceased pet dog, the one that he and Angeal raised ever since they were kids but died before they left for Midgar, when one trooper of the Infantry made a joke about dogs and Wutains.

Then came the time when he was to lead the 2nd and 3rd Class SOLDIERs to the battlefront, he forgot the name of that 3rd Class SOLDIER who spent being his _secretary_ ever since he arrived at Wutai for the war, which was 3 months 24/7. Genesis spent **3 months** with the 3rd Class SOLDIER, he asked for the name in order to avoid hassles so Genesis knew he _knew_ the SOLDIER's name.

And the final punch to his proverbial gut was the moment he had returned to Midgar and experienced the first ever blackout in his life. It wasn't due to the stress or exhaustion from the war at Wutai, in fact it was even shorter than they expected after Wutai sent _all_ of the troops in a ' _Kamikaze'_ attack a few days after a mild earthquake rocked the entre Wutai Islands.

Genesis just _blacked out_ at the steps of the stairs leading to the SOLDIER Command Room and the next thing he knew, he was in his quarters with Angeal fast asleep on a chair beside his bed. Initially he thought it was stress but when it occurred several times throughout the week, he became suspicious of its origins.

Since Prof. Hollander, his and Angeal's personal doctor ever since they were kids at Banora and who subsequently joined the Medical Division of the Science Department of ShinRa when the two of them joined, was with them at Wutai, taking over the infirmary of ShinRa's troops at Wutai, he had convinced the man to do a check-up on him. The professor made tests on his blood and reflected it to some of his previously stored one at the lad and discovered something was _seriously_ wrong with his body. It was rejecting the Mako Treatments he received as a part of joining SOLDIER on the _genetic_ level.

The human body naturally rejects any foreign substances introduced to itself. Much more if has the tendencies to enhance the natural capabilities of the body, like Mako for example, since the body identifies the changes it went through as something not _natural_. Mako is then being constantly purged out the body of a SOLDIER, either through sweat secretion, excretion or used as an another fuel source for certain situations.

However, the body also tries to adapt itself if it notices the positive outputs of the foreign substances. The body then tries to accept the Mako Infusions slowly and gradually increases the body's resistance to the negative side of Mako, like deterioration of its cells. If one reaches a certain level of resistance, they are immediately promoted up a Class. But the highest they would reach is 2nd Class for to be part of the 1st Class is a different matter.

1st Class SOLDIERs like him have a very high resistance to Mako and uses the benefits of Mako Infusions with almost no consequences at all. No constant Mako Treatments to prevent the deterioration of those 2nd and 3rd Class SOLDIERs. Though they still have to go under check-ups for every once a month, unlike the others who have to return every week or so.

So to know and have evidence of the _rapid deterioration_ and collapse of his cells, Genesis was shaken. **Bad**.

And to make matters worse, Prof. Hollander even surmised that his best friend Angeal could suffer this… ' _degradation'_ in the near future once Angeal's healing capabilities fail and initiates the decay. He and Genesis seemed to share a common gene in their DNA that was being targeted by the ' _degradation'_ , Prof. Hollander said.

As a concerned friend and someone who has _intimate_ experience with the ' _degradation'_ , as Prof. Hollander coined it, Genesis threatened the doctor not to tell anyone, not even Angeal, about the subject. Until they could find the exact reason why his body is rejecting the Mako Treatments and the possible cure of his condition, Genesis wouldn't allow other to know about it.

ShinRa is already treading the thin line between scientific and medical expertise to outright scientific madness. The things that occasionally escapes from the Science Department and the labs at Sector 6 really doesn't convince anyone from think otherwise. Even Sephiroth despise the 'specimens' he, Genesis and Angeal had to kill, and Prof. Hojo is his father. If Sephiroth, who spent all his life with ShinRa and under the watch of his father, _fear_ and _loathe_ of having to do anything with the Science Department, then how much more should he and Angeal fear if word of their condition reach them?

And Prof. Hojo have a very _serious_ rivalry with Prof. Hollander that Genesis believed the current Department Head of the Science Department may play with the idea of taking him and Angeal just to spite Prof. Hollander. The idea disgusts him, honestly.

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Taking advantage of the current absence of his fellow friends, Genesis prowled the SOLDIER Floor for the 2nd Class SOLDIER Zack Fair. It was a well-known fact within SOLDIER, the Infantry and the various workers within the ShinRa Headquarters that Zack is a friendly person and his outgoing personality endears him to the public faster than his mentor's, Angeal, charisma.

In fact, some 2nd and 3rd Class SOLDIERs were planning to file a petition to Director Lazard requesting the use of Zack as the brand new poster boy of SOLDIER, usually used in recruiting. Sephiroth was the latest due to his strength and skill in the Wutai War. He and Angeal were featured once, after Sephiroth's first issue, but was soon replaced by Sephiroth's. Favoritism of ShinRa, some people say.

Still, aside from being the potential SOLDIER poster boy, it was rumored that Zack frequently go below the Plate when he's off-duty. Usually on weekends and Wednesdays, the Puppy was said to pack a bag of his clothes and depart to the train station, buying a ticket to the Sector 5 Slums. Genesis' research confirmed Zack _always_ go to the Slums on weekends ever since he came to Midgar.

Chances are, the blue-eyed SOLDIER knew the location of the rumored well of healing water.

Genesis would have an easier time finding the Puppy if Angeal was there but Angeal and Sephiroth were currently at Wutai, overseeing the transition of Wutai's independence over to ShinRa and the acquisition of the site for the brand new Mako Reactor. Angeal would know where his Puppy would be the moment he asked his friend but he wasn't here.

He finally found the 2nd Class SOLDIER at Floor 49 Training Room doing _squats,_ of all things. Based on his mutters of ' _97… 98…'_ , Zack was here for quite some time. Genesis called the younger teen's attention, Zack turned around to him.

"Genesis!" the teen with spikes for hair exclaimed at the sight of him. "Y-You came back already?!"

Really. No sense of respect whatsoever. Just because he and Angeal are best friends ever since from their childhood, Zack could speak to him with no proper decorum. But then again, the way he always says it meant no disrespect but instead plain camaraderie.

He'll just throw a Firaga at the Puppy later, for good measure.

"You're familiar with the Sector 5 Slums, am I right?"

"Y-Yeah, but why? And where's Angeal and the General? They stayed back at Wutai?"

The 2nd Class SOLDIER was wearing _civilian_ clothes – _a plain shirt under a dark purple jacket with matching black pants and shoes, it just screams_ _ **civilian**_ \- and was just wasting his time before he could sign out from the compound. Although they are the elite of ShinRa's troops, SOLDIERs are still classified as employees of ShinRa. Thus they have 'working hours', just like any other employee in Midgar. Genesis, Angeal and Sephiroth are the 'exceptions' for they are the 'Heads' of SOLDIER so they must be available 24/7 in the ShinRa Headquarters.

Doesn't stop them from going around the city when they aren't called in by the Director for their duties.

"They are to oversee the proper protocol of Wutai's surrender in the War," Genesis scoffed. How he loathed that he had to return to Midgar without the two but Lazard's order for him to take a well-earned rest was a _blessing. A blessing from the Goddess._ "You'll accompany me to investigate a certain subject in Sector 5 Slums. Now."

Zack immediately froze up but it was gone in a blink. Genesis might have missed it if it weren't for his enhanced senses that enabled him to perceive the slight tension in the 2nd Class SOLDIER's muscles. "What's the matter?"

He expected the teen to blurt out about the Well but instead what he got was unexpected.

"Um, Genesis, are you, um, really going to the Slums in _that_?" the Puppy asked, pointing to his modified 1st Class SOLDIER uniform. "You know that the people at the Slums aren't _friendly_ with SOLDIERs. That's why I'm wearing civilian clothes, Genesis. To hide my job."

Zack smiled slightly and ducked his head, possibly ashamed to admit something. "It was really _something_ when you literally got _stoned_ by the people at the Slums. Mind you I was only a 3rd Class back then but SOLDIER really gets the brunt of their hate."

"Hm…" Well, the Puppy had a point. He **had** to go in the Slums unnoticed. Genesis was investigating the origin of the rumor and if possible get the said artifact for his own purposes. Being recognized as a 1st Class SOLDIER will just grab unwanted attention to him and it would only hinder his attempts in finding a cure for his condition.

"…Fine. Wait me at the elevators. That's an order."

"Yes sir."

With his back turned away from Zack, he made his way out of the Training Room. He was already out of the door when he heard Zack talk to himself – _He's acting strange. No LOVELESS quotes whatsoever. What could be wrong? –_ but he ignored it.

Genesis doesn't have much time left before his condition worsen. His last resort would be to confront Prof. Hollander and demand him to find a way, and he would be only doing that if he already had exhausted all of his possible options.

From the files he just unearthed when he made a quick stop to the Archives – _he didn't get promoted to 1_ _st_ _Class only just for his strength and skill in Materia use_ -, Genesis suspected Prof. Hollander had something to do with his condition. He just doesn't want to outright tell him.

He'll get his just desserts soon.

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Blasting the Puppy with a Firaga happened earlier than Genesis expected. The Puppy had the gall to _guffaw_ on his choice of _civilian_ clothes. What can he do, he was a first and foremost the son of Banora's Mayor. Thus his clothes tend to reflect his social statues.

It only influenced his decision to modify his own 1st Class uniform, which both him and Sephiroth did to reinforce their image on the battlefield. Angeal, that mother chocobo, doesn't see the reason why they decided to modify their uniform. Then again, his Buster Sword was already an icon of himself, removing any doubt it was him if he joins in the fray.

"Get on with it, _Fair_. I may have been in Midgar for almost 6 years but never have I ever went down to the Slums. You'll be my guide there," Genesis imperiously stated. Zack's frown just went even sourer from his statement.

"Yeah, yeah, and I'm here for only 2 years. Have the guy who just arrived to Midgar make a tour to someone who lived more than 5 years in the place," Zack grumbled. "And here I thought I could go on a date with Aerith."

"Hm…" Genesis didn't make any comment on the Puppy's last statement. Some of the SOLDIERs established romantic relationships outside their job environment so it wouldn't be too unexpected for Angeal's protégé.

He and Zack rode the train that constantly moves between the sectors of Midgar, both Top Plate and below the Plate, to the Sector 5 Slums. Slums isn't the official title for the area below the Plate, which is called Midgar Proper, but it could be when the residents who could afford the price of having a place above the Plate decided to 'settle down' in Midgar at the light-deprived environment of Old Midgar.

Genesis never once stepped down at Old Midgar, not even when he and Angeal arrived at Midgar by train when they're 13. He rented a room at one of the most affordable inns in Midgar during the SOLDIER Entrance Examinations and would have gladly pay for Angeal's room but the _prude_ wouldn't let him. Angeal's _honor_ wouldn't allow himself to be indebted to Genesis.

Angeal was the only one in his small circle of friends who went down to Old Midgar and he was at Wutai with Sephiroth. Zack would suffice in the meantime.

Passing through a tunnel, Genesis saw how different the scenery of Midgar and Old Midgar. Midgar was bright at day and even at night, full of metal scaffoldings at any available lot, large tubes of fresh air, water and Mako, high-rising skyscrapers and elevated highways looping at every corner. The moment the train slipped past the Sector 1 Station, the North Edge Station, darkness immediately enveloped the windows.

The fluorescent light of the tunnel disappeared and was then replaced by the green tinge of the Mako coming from the tubes running below the Plate. Genesis saw how _dark_ Old Midgar was. The train's light illuminated the tracks it was running on and it was the only thing that was significantly bright in the vast darkness of Old Midgar.

Even Old Midgar was divided into the same sectors of Midgar, towering walls separate each sector from one another. Genesis heard they also serve the purpose of stairs for those who couldn't afford the train ticket. ShinRa utilized a credit ticket system for the trains that ran in Midgar, which also had several requirements before it was issued.

One must have a birth certificate registered at ShinRa's City Database and must pay an initial fee of 1000 Gil, 10 tickets worth 100 Gil each. Though each ticket cost 100 Gil, a bit pricy but affordable at the same time, the 1000 Gil fee just to get the ElectroID.

Lazard once complained it to him, Angeal and Sephiroth during their monthly SOLDIER meetings and it had led to an argument whether or not Lazard should file a complaint to the Urban Development Department.

After a few loops around the column of ShinRa Tower and passing through the respective stations of Old Midgar, Genesis and Zack arrived at the station of Old Midgar's Sector 5. There aren't many people around the station, only the assigned troopers to the station were there.

Now that he was on ground level, he just noticed how _dark_ it really was. If he took out the barely noticeable fluorescent lights below the Plate and the green mist of Mako coming out of the tubes from the Reactors, Genesis would admit that Old Midgar really deserved the moniker of 'The Slums'. Electricity seemed to be staple at The Slums, phased out streetlights giving ample light on the crowded streets and the humming usually attributed to the running currents in its bulbs were what Genesis noticed immediately; it was hard _not_ to notice it.

"Where do they get their electricity? From what I heard and researched, ShinRa doesn't provide their services here." The redhead asked as he was led by the teen to the streets of Sector 5. With the lack of his signature red leather duster coat and his SOLDIER uniform, he was ignored by the passersby.

Though Genesis would chuck it up to his white with red stripes hoodie and his stylish looking pants. It really looked so _civilian_. Zack's comment on his attire as _'A college student going to the Slums just to get drunk hard'_ must be what the people of Sector 5 saw in him.

Zack gave him a grin and answered. "They don't, Genesis. Well, not officially. ShinRa gives free electricity to the people here, even ventilation. See those large vents under the Plate?" The teen pointed towards the barely noticeable underside of the Plate. Genesis, however, saw several ventilation fans above the metal grates. "ShinRa also does the ventilation of The Slums. Kinda hard for people to breathe if the air doesn't move right?"

"Then what about the rest of their utilities?" Genesis asked, noticing that there are shops selling merchandise commonly found above but at a lower price. He went to inspect a soda drink from one of the stores – _with a filthy façade, it's a wonder people would buy from this store –_ and gaped at the lack of expiration date.

"Well, it _is_ a common fact that people here steal water from above by rerouting water lines at the pillars. Food is, well, food is actually bought and being resold here at a lower price," Zack admitted, glancing around for something or someone. "Almost expired goods from Sector 1, Sector 3 and Sector 5 are being sold here. Also phased out stuff gets sold here. Just like they say, Genesis, nothing really gets wasted here in Midgar."

"Hmm…" He did wonder where the expired goods usually go, aside from being used a food for the animals at Sector 5 Experimental Farms or being recycled at Sector 1 Scrap Metal Factories.

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After arriving at what Zack said to be the center of Sector 5, Genesis repeated his orders to the 2nd Class SOLDIER. At first, the teen's expression was scrunched up in confusion but soon understanding dawned to his face. Angeal's Puppy was the best choice in his endeavor.

Despite not having any idea of the Well of Healing Water – ' _The what? That's the first time I heard of it. And It's here in Sector 5?! The Church is really the only interesting thing here in Sector 5.' -,_ Zack was able to endear himself to the people in Sector 5 Slums and was successful in getting information on the rumored Healing Water.

"So that's a thing. One said she was led by some dog to a well where there's water. She was sick from food poison, she said," Zack said as he bit on a piece of burger he bought from a stall in some back alley burger shop. Genesis didn't order a thing, he doesn't know where the meat even _made_ from.

"She was coughing mad and really, she should have gone to a doctor or had someone cast Esuna on her, but then again, Materia here is pretty high. Emily was stumbling down the path around 5 blocks away when the dog led her to someplace." Zack bit on his nasty looking burger. Again. "The dog, which was white for some reason, pushed her to drink the water, I don't know how she knew but she just did. She scooped with her hand and drank. She said she was thirsty anyway, but when she drank it, she felt amazing."

"She then went to tell the others but she couldn't find the place again." The teen then gulped down the accompanying soda drink he bought along with the burger. Genesis sat only there, staring at the sheer foolishness his friend's protégé was doing. "Then there's this old lady who was feeling quite bad but she was then given by a _Gaelicat_ of a bottle. A bottle of the said water. And there this-"

"Stop, okay. Stop. Let's go to the last place this… Emily last seen the dog. I need to find this rumored Well or else…"

"…What's wrong Genesis?"

"Nothing."

He almost _blurted out_ his condition to Zack. Zack who was Angeal's protégé. Even if he made the teen swear he won't tell to Angeal, it would be useless since Angeal is first and foremost his mentor.

Standing up from the makeshift table of the back-alley burger shop, with Zack tumbling the other table behind him and throwing off the condiments on it - _clearly an attempt to imitate a restaurant at above the Plate -_ , Genesis left the place and went to the direction Zack said the white dog was seen. Zack, who was running away from the angry burger lady, quickly ran after Genesis.

"Hey! I know where this place is, its near to the place where my girlfriend always hangs out. I better tell her we're coming by," Zack said as he pulled out his PHS and called his girlfriend. "Hello? Aerith? It's me, Zack. Hey, my friend is searching for a rumored well in Sector 5 and apparently the place our lead left was near the Church. Is it alright we pass by there? Hmm… Really? Thanks a lot."

With a beep, Zack closed his PHS and smiled. "Aerith is at the Church now and she's fine in meeting you. Maybe she had an idea of the rumor too with her living in Sector 5 ever since she was young. Aerith may also knew where this Well of Healing."

Genesis only nodded in reply. With Zack leading the way to the Church, an establishment he never thought would exist in Midgar, Genesis spent the time walking thinking of his next actions. The Puppy already exhausted the people who had an idea of the rumor and this girlfriend of his, a resident of Sector 5 for her entire life, would be the last one Zack haven't asked. Tomorrow, Angeal and Sephiroth would be coming back and he wouldn't have the time to investigate on the rumor anymore.

Honestly, he began to doubt that this healing water even existed as every person in they met testified with only their experiences as evidence. They couldn't even pinpoint the exact location where they found the well, what the surrounding area of the well and – _the strangest of them all –_ where did the _Gaelicat_ , of all things, had gone after giving the bottle of water to the old lady.

 _Gaelicats_ are native to Cosmo Canyon and some parts of the Kalm Region. They are cats that have the ability to _fly_ and if there's one in the Slums of Sector 5, almost everyone would scramble to find it. Yet there's no trace of the _Gaelicat_ whatsoever. Except for the blurry picture the grandson of the old lady took. The _Gaelicat_ was wearing a pink ribbon around its neck.

And honestly, Genesis was getting tired already. Both physically and mentally. Not to mention, he dared to say it, _spiritually_. He already lost a lot of his memories from the degradation and he doesn't want to reach to the point where he would only be a husk of his former self.

He's Genesis Rhapsodos, a 1st Class SOLDIER, The Crimson Commander of SOLDIER, the rival of Sephiroth and the Strongest Mage of the Planet. He who dreamed of living past beyond the islands of Mideel and be an _actual hero_ deserving of the title. He who planned to be an artist in Midgar if he didn't pass the SOLDIER Exams. He who realized the fantasies of Banoran people of having the Banora White as a famous and well known fruit.

If the degradation continued on - _and by the rate of things are, it will be escalating soon_ \- his memories of himself will soon degrade. What would he be in the end? Some _punk_ who's obsessed on LOVELESS and nothing else? Would he be so single-minded in the end that he would even think of _reenacting_ the epic in chances of it becoming true?

… The degradation is already affecting his mind. He's more than this. More than just a plain SOLDIER, he's the one who is blessed by the-

"Genesis, here!"

The Puppy's yell broke his thoughts. Shaking his head, as if to shake off the things plaguing his mind, he followed where Zack's yell came from. In his reverie, he was walking in auto-pilot, following the path the 2nd Class SOLDIER took.

He was approaching a clearing. A clearing of the twists and turns of the Slums he became accustomed to in such a short time. At the end, he found a church. No, **_The Church_**. Based on the Puppy's word earlier, it was implied to be the only church in Midgar. Only at towns like Banora and Kalm had churches, a remnant of a religion that used to be so prevalent in the world. When people used to believe in a higher power, used to believe in the Goddess.

Many people still believed and have faith, including Genesis due to a part of his heritage and primarily of his own ideology of a higher power above him, but religion is becoming a thing of the past _fast._

The Church stood tall and proud, just like any church should be, and wasn't surrounded by any rubble, clutter or any garbage that was found at the Slums. There was a young woman who was wearing a light pink sundress and her hair tied up in a ponytail. She had _flowers_ on her hands and was busy trying to put a _flower crown_ on top of the Puppy's head.

Genesis was surprised by the sight of flowers. He was then reminded by the flowers he had unfortunately trampled on at Wutai in the middle of the war. He was reminded of the flowers that bloomed for a short while before they became the Banora Whites he loved so dearly. To see them in _Midgar_ was something he didn't expect.

"Hey! Genesis! You're here! Aerith," the Puppy said, gesturing to him. "This is Genesis Rhapsodos, best friend of my mentor, Angeal. Genesis, this is Aerith, my girlfriend."

The young woman smiled at him and slightly bowed her head. She then handed out a _bouquet_ of white flowers. "I heard from Zack you were coming so I had to rush in making my gift. Here, I hope you enjoy it. I think the flowers are called _bird's nest or wild carrot_. Really, they aren't close to carrots."

"Y-you. Do you even know what these meant?" Genesis asked. Flowers have meanings, Angeal had drilled them to his head ever since they were young. Comes with the territory of being the best plant grower in the entire Mideel Islands.

"Of course, I do. Why else would I even give those to you specifically?" the young woman answered with a small smile on her face. "Come inside the church and-"

"Aerith! I'm here and check out all of these cool things I bought for- Zack?! You're here too?! You should have called! I would have saved a bowl for you and… Who's that?"

"Oh dear," the brunette sighed. "I should have told him earlier. He will overreact for sure."

"Who? Ver?" Zack asked.

"Aerith, Zack, who is that?"

The voice that interrupted Zack's girlfriend came closer to them. Genesis turned around and saw a teen, quite younger than Zack and his girlfriend, with a plastic bag full of what he assumed as take-out. He was wearing black shirt with a red jacket and white pants with red boots. He also had a pair of bracers and fingerless gloves on both of his arms and hands.

Green eyes stared straight at him a few meters away from the doors of the church. "How did you get past the…? No. Zack let you through, thereby bypassing the Enemy Away Effect. What is your purpose here?" the teen with black hair asked him. "Are you here for Aerith?"

"No, Ver! He isn't-"

But before Aerith could finish what she had to say, Zack pulled her into the church. A huge chunk of ice was hurled moments earlier at Genesis, to which he and Zack noticed before it came to them. Given that it was slower than any magic attack, it was evidently a warning for him and a signal for the girl to take cover.

Zack soon entered the church but when Genesis tried back off towards the church doors, a translucent barrier formed instantly, prevent him to enter. His hands couldn't get pass through but Zack could, when he tried to pull Genesis in.

"You aren't going anywhere until you answer me right now!"

"Dammit. What's with Ver today? Why did he launch an attack to Genesis? Genesis, of all people?!" Zack asked incredulously. "I'm sorry Genesis but-" A fireball went to Genesis, to which he ducked, only for it to hit the translucent barrier and dissipate instantly. "I guess you are on your own."

"Genesis," the ponytailed girl called out to him. "She said someone is coming here to find some guidance. A sanctuary for himself. The water you need is in the church." At this, Genesis' eyes widened in shock. "I would give it you right now but…" She reached out her hand and the barrier stopped her hands. She then tried to push the flowers she had on her hands but it also hindered by the barrier.

"I guess you have to convince Ver to let you in. Don't worry, I can heal you afterwards so please do your best. Ver is pretty strong in magic so please don't take him lightly. You are a friend of Zack so I believe what you _desired_ is not against Her wishes."

Genesis had no idea what Zack's girlfriend was talking about but from what he could understand from the girl's words were…

He was to defeat the teen. Beat him until he's weak enough to collapse the barrier surrounding the church. Simple enough.

Aerith, as if she realized Genesis was thinking about the church, widened the doors prompting Genesis to see a **_well_** _inside_ the church beside a patch of _flowers_. Now that he noticed the flowers, Genesis just realized that the Church in Sector 5 was significantly brighter than the areas he had been. Looking up, avoiding a fire ball while doing so, Genesis saw a hole up at the Plate, letting the sunlight from above the plate to the area it was found. Most likely the large and widely ignored hole in the middle of the Food Production Plant, the one he and Angeal found during one mission at the sector.

With his goal within his reach, Genesis had no qualms on the prospect of property damage. The _kid_ was launching numerous elemental attacks at him. As if he was sure his attacks won't affect the surroundings nor catch the attention of people at the area.

Good thing he chose to bring his collection of Materia with him, equipped in two bangles on his wrists. He heard from Angeal and the other SOLDIERS below him that the Slums are **infested** with monsters, both from outside Midgar and escapees of whatever machinations ShinRa's Science Department did.

Countering the next fireball thrown at him with a hasty conjured slab of ice, Genesis grinned. He may have felt the beginning of the more severe symptoms of his condition but it won't stop his battle instincts from jumping into action. Besides, Genesis surmised, beating this obviously magically competent teen would be good exercise for him. Having a weapon to use wasn't much a hassle since Genesis was first and foremost a _very_ _ **skilled**_ magic user.

Time to stretch out his _magic_ muscles.


	6. Aerith: Lay down the law HARD

The Hardiest Flower

It was an unspoken rule in the Sector 5 Slums.

Never deface the Church. Nor its surroundings.

The Church was a relic of the city that became what was known as the Sector 5 Slums. Back when people had _religion_ in their lives and used to believe in the power of **Higher Beings**. Back when people had **faith** , had something to **lean on** when hard times comes by, had a place to **share their joy** in being _alive_.

But now that the city was _overshadowed_ by the result of its residents' decisions, the people there couldn't step back into the Church's _sacred halls_. In their _foolishness_ in thinking they were doing the _right thing,_ they had forsaken their _privilege_ in seeing the sky.

The sky that represents their _hopes and dreams_. It's vastness and seemingly _infinite reaches_ that reflects what the **_Goddess'_** _magnificence_ is _._

But they don't have the heart to take it down to use it for their own purposes. Their own history with the _sacred establishment_ was too strong and _heavy_ in their hearts for them to forsake it. The skies they had took for granted wasn't in their reaches anymore, they couldn't let the final remnant of their history be taken away.

That's why the Church had stood for almost a century ever since it was built. Its stained glass windows and majestic chandeliers up at its ceilings stood the test of time. Everything in it was preserved, locked away, by the residents of the city when ShinRa, _the deceiver,_ started to build the humongous pillar in the city's center.

Everyone wept because they all realized that the promises ShinRa made won't come true after they started demolishing _historical_ buildings to build the foundations of the _Plate_. ShinRa promised their city _grandeur, economic upheaval, improvement in quality of life_ and **_more_**. But ShinRa actually planned to create a different city, a city built _on_ their cities.

They couldn't complain because all ShinRa asked was to own certain parts of their city under the company's name. Specifically, some of the lots on the city outskirts and a single large lot where an old mansion from the Edean Inquisition era. It was all a part of their big and archaic plan to _compartmentalize_ entire city, creating a 'framework' of sorts for their grandiose _Plate_.

So when the Plate was completed and the entire city – _the name was forcibly removed from the records and even its residents subconsciously forgotten as well –_ was plunged into darkness, all of its people clung to the remnants of its glorious past. One of those remnants was the Church.

Thus the people living in what was now called Sector 5 Slums, teach their children and any prospecting residents about the unspoken rule. Never deface the Church, for it is the only remaining part of its history. Never said out loud, always in whispers or showed through their actions.

Some phenomena that instigated Aerith's curiosity when she was a child. Leading her to become the unofficial caretaker of Sector 5 Slums' Church.

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For almost… 10? No, it's actually 8 years. For almost 8 years since Aerith found – _more like stumbled upon –_ the Church in near her and her mother's house, she had used it as a sanctuary. Her mother, Elmyra, told her of stories about the Church when she was young, back when she was still plagued by the nightmares.

She still has them but she could now manage it, dealing with them became a test of endurance and willpower for her.

Elmyra said that when she came with her husband to the Slums of Sector 5, she was approached by an old lady saying she shouldn't _touch_ the Church. At first she was curious as to why she was told about it, maybe her husband's job and origin must have prompted the old lady to tell her. Her late husband was a high-ranking general in the Infantry and came from the Slums of Sector 4.

But she discovered why later on. People revere the place, a sort of symbol of what was before ShinRa came to their city. She would love to visit and check out the place but Elmyra hasn't got the strength to step inside an establishment _revered_ by its people. She said it was like intruding into a place she clearly has no right to enter.

Aerith was fascinated about the stories that she went out and searched for it. She had seen the monsters that roamed around the area at the labs of ShinRa that she knew how to avoid them. Especially with the mountains of scrap metal and other plastics around, she had a perfect hiding spot until the monsters would left.

Searching for the Church wasn't that hard. In fact, the Church doors were open and the entire place was still in _pristine_ condition. There were cloths over the wide chairs and a wide hole in the ceiling. Somewhere at what she assumed to be an elevated platform lies a broken table. Well, something that looked like a table.

The ceiling, Aerith noticed, was broken when something fell from above. She heard stories from her mother and their neighbors – _friendly but they gave her weird looks once in a while, strange –_ about how people above the Plate throw things over the cracks and holes of the entire metal _pizza slice_. That's why the houses in the Slums have _metal bars and sheets_ as roofs to protect themselves from any falling objects the people of the Plate throws over.

Aerith experienced it once and she didn't like it. Not a single bit. But the object that hit her on the head that almost caused her to faint was beautiful, a pole that has strange but appeasing etches of flowers and vines and birds, it even has handle on it. Her mother said once she brought it to her was that it was probably a weapon by some person who came outside of Midgar and threw it over the Plate, because Midgar have SOLDIERs and the Infantry for their security, unlike outside Midgar where monsters roam and people must have some sort of weapon to protect themselves. Aerith found those stories interesting.

The hole was so large that Aerith could see the underside of the Plate from where she stood. At the wooden floor – _which was weird because its wood, all she ever saw was cement, steel and dead ground –_ there was a large machine-like thing. The more she looked at it, the more she realized it wasn't just a machine-like thing. It was a TV, her mother had one in their home just a few blocks away.

Just as she was trying to drag the large broken TV – _the glass screen was still intact, just like the screen her_ _ **mom**_ _used to break with a chair –_ to a corner to inspect, Aerith realized she was seeing things clearly like she had a flashlight with her. Looking up, the green eyed girl saw light coming a hole at the underside of the Plate, shining down exactly where the hole of the Church's ceiling at.

She should have known it or at the very least guessed the reason why there was a large broken but salvageable TV at the Church. Based on the assumed trajectory of the TV's descent to the Slums, it must have come above the Plate and was thrown with enough strength to pierce the metal and cemented Plates. The TV must be made of super strong stuff to make the hole _and_ arrive at the Slums in one piece.

The hole the TV made on the wooden floor was a crater about the size of her entire bedroom. Its impact was so strong that it broke the wooden floor and reached the ground, chunks of the Church's cemented foundations scattered around. Aerith honestly thought it made a beautiful scene. Especially with how the light above shone on the entire area of the impact, how the stained glass windows' light creates an amazing mixture of colors and how the slight breeze coming from the holes and the doorway she had entered pick up the dust off the floor.

Everything in the Church was supposed to be sad and with the destruction of its roof and the crater in it, the sight was supposed to make her feel sad about it. But she wasn't. Instead, it made Aerith smile. Her **_mom_** 's stories of how destruction was meant to signal the start of reconstruction, how she had met her father in an accident which led to her, and how the ground must be dug up before a tree could grow from.

…She still missed her **_mom_** but Aerith knows she's with her dad now and she got her mother with her. But maybe… Just maybe…

Her mother has kept a couple of seeds, flower seeds, in their cupboard. They were meant to be some sort of memento of her mother's parents outside of Midgar. Well, that's what she said.

Aerith has memories of being taught by her **_mom_** about using the _special orb of magic_ on her ponytail tie and how she could use it for her own use. Aerith could remember her **_mom_** wanting to see the trees she used to watch before she was born. Aerith could remember her **_mom_** whispering to her, saying things of _how_ to use her magic, her special ability that ShinRa wanted to use for themselves, to do things she wants to.

She remembered so clearly how Ifalna – _she had memorized her_ _ **mom's**_ _name when she realized she had left in order to remember her –_ desperately tries to teach young Aerith – _she was about 6 then –_ how to use her magic discreetly. And her **_mom_** succeeded.

Maybe… Just maybe, she could grow the flowers. Maybe she could grow them, for her **_mom_** , for her **_mom_** who didn't got to see trees before she had left. A way to remember her.

And the Church would be the best place to hide it. She could clearly remember her **_mom_** clutching her tightly that she couldn't breathe, saying things of ' _…hide, my light, close your eyes, change, change, change your hair, change your eyes, hide, hide, it's going to be all right, mom is here, you'll be safe, close your eyes, you'll be safe, don't be scared, we're there, hide…'_. Aerith knew that she was being searched for. And it scared her, so bad.

She has lived with her mother for almost a year now but she still longed for her **_mom._** Maybe her growing the flower would help her?

Aerith hoped so.

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And she wasn't mistaken. A bit of magic here and magic there, channeled through her fingertips, through every shovel she did on the hard ground, through every sweat she dropped, and the flowers grew and _bloomed_. It sure did took some time to make them grow because the ground when she touched it felt _dead_ to her.

Dead like the cold hard steel of the scrap metals she had to hid under when monsters larger than her came to usual path home, dead like the same monsters that the Infantry soldiers shot down when they heard of the shard cries of the beasts, dead like the small flower which died in just a few minutes after she had transferred outside from the church's interior.

She tried using the same trick she did inside the church on the church's grounds, clasping on the white bauble on one hand and channeling her magic on the other to the grounds, but it was nothing. She felt like her magic being poured into a very large drum that had a big hole in the bottom. It doesn't stay. Unlike in the Church.

Aerith have no idea why she the flowers could only grow inside the Church so she tried to bring a flower to her house, which surprised her mother because she had a flower inside a plastic pouch with and it was a flower she almost forgotten its appearance. There, a few a meters from her house, she discovered they could grow as well.

Maybe it's because she lived there? Maybe because she also spent a lot of time in the Church that they grew there as well? Aerith always wonders about it, writing it all down in a small notebook she had scavenged from one of the piles in the Slums. Her **_mom_** taught her how to write, read, and talk while being kept inside the metal room.

Elmyra was shocked and angry at her because of the flower and the realization she had been escaping from the house without her knowing. However, Aerith wasn't scolded much, only reprimanded, and was let to go at the Church. It was near, _so near_ to their house that Aerith could stay there for long as she wants.

Her mother still reminds her to go back and sleep at their house. Aerith just smiled at her mother.

Both of them knew even before Aerith turned 8 that weren't really a _family_. Elmyra took her in because she wanted to have a daughter, her husband died in the Wutai War, and Aerith went with her because her **_mom_** left already to her dad. They tried to connect but it was better not to force it.

Aerith could tell that her mother tries to be a _mother_ but being not her _actual and real_ daughter had made both of their attempts in being a family _collapse_. Being there for each other was a better set-up for Aerith and Elmyra, it gave them both a semblance of normalcy.

That led to Aerith spending almost all of her time in the Church that she was practically _living_ in it. Not to mention that with her presence, the flowers and other plants that were hidden below the ground, _lived_.

The green eyed girl efforts on becoming _independent_ – _she was already one, ever since she realized she and her mom was inside a metal room for almost 5 years –_ was met with their neighbors' questioning looks. But many didn't bother in the end, almost every kid in the area learned how to be independent. With how the Slums works, with how poverty seemed to be the norm around and with how many people seemed to starve when they have no money, Aerith learned to deal with being a resident of the Slums.

Scavenging bits and bobs on the piles of wrecked cars, machines and even _trash,_ Aerith got herself some useful materials to help her _brand new home_ in the Church. The flowers she grew inside the Church was also being sold to the people in Sector 5 Slums, which were met with some tears and grateful expressions. She soon discovered why the people let her be, let her have free reign over the Church and how many seemed to be giving her a big deal of _respect_ when she visits the shops in the Sector.

To them, she was a _miracle._ _ **A Flower Blooming in the Slums**_ **.** She made the flowers _bloomed_ _ **again**_ in the Sector 5 Slums. The place was known before for its gardens and wide varieties of flora that because of it, the small town became a city focused on exporting flowers, according to an old lady who gave Aerith an old-looking bag full of seeds.

Aerith couldn't help but to thank the old lady, who seemed to be unofficial leader of the Slums in Sector 5, for their help. After she started giving out the flowers she grew in the church, the people around her tend to help her out by giving her some of the things they think she would need. A bit of cloth here, a bottle there, a bag here, a bowl there.

In the end, the Church was filled with several bits and bobs from the people of Sector 5, people who apparently _preserved_ the Church in their vain attempts to cling on the used-to-be-city's history. The Church that started out as a secret hiding place for her flowers, became a _home_ for Aerith, her **_mom's_** memory making her feel secure and the people's gifts reminding her she was being cared of.

Her mother, who was working up as some cashier at the Plate now that Aerith found something to keep her busy, would always welcome her back to their house with food and water for her to use; despite being not an _actual_ family at all.

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To the people of Sector 5 Slums, Aerith was a **Flower Blooming in the Slums**. The title also wasn't specific to what kind of flower because Aerith could be either a _sweet smelling flower like the Climbing Roses_ that would make you smile with her charming looks and pleasing personality, or a _beautiful but deadly Poison Queen_ that would kick you in the balls or struck you in the neck with staff she carries. A flower she may be but she's from the Slums.

So when a newcomer to Sector 5, most likely someone up from the Plate who decided to _check on the rumors of the people there eating rats_ , people feared they would face the **wrath** of the most _sweet and innocent_ Aerith. And the newcomer did.

Almost everyone in the Sector 5 Slums heard the loud **crash** and **boom** followed by a **soul-chilling cry** of _'Stop! I won't do it again! Don't! NOOOOO!'._

No one in the area would try to invoke the wrath of Aerith after she made a perfect example of one of Don Corneo's stooges in manhandling her to supply flowers at the Honey Bee Inn. The stooges cornered the girl to the Church and also locked the door from the inside. The kids that waited outside for their usual scavenging trip with Aerith called for help when they noticed someone threatened the girl.

They were all pretty much indebted to the young woman for her successful attempt in making the Church as a symbol of hope in Sector 5 that many of them went to rescue her, consequences be damned. Aerith was Sector 5 Slums' treasure, their _flower_ and no one was going to take here away.

But when the men armed with metal poles and other metal knuckles equipped went to rescue her, they found the stooges limping away with a strange look in the faces. And Aerith was smiling the entire time the stooges limped their way to the Sector 6 Gate.

Her smile was unlike her previous smiles that reminded them of a sweet tasting poison, fooling you to consume with its sweet taste and would then kill you once consumed.

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' _I miss doing this,_ ' Aerith mentally commented as she smacked the stupid worthless good for nothing son of a chocobo that took a piss at her flower garden in the Church. She doesn't close the door because occasionally some kids in Sector 5 Slums got tired or was kicked out from their home – _it happened once with Martin –_ and she lets them sleep on the bit dusty pews of the church.

She was sleeping on the 2nd floor of the Church, a floor, which holds all of her collected _treasures_ from the people, that she discovered after she investigated the entire place thoroughly. The brunette was startled from her slumber when the large doors of the Church was banged with a loud noise. Martin and his friends wouldn't nor couldn't close the door with enough force to make such a noise so that would mean they weren't the one inside her Church.

 _'…_ _Since when did I claim the Church as mine? Hm… Something I would think on later,'_

Picking up the staff she had found years ago – _it was sturdy and with a couple of magic balls she found amongst the scrap piles, magic was just a simple point with it -_ , Aerith peeked through the hatch. There, Aerith saw a man who was stumbling over the pews as he looked around for something.

 _'_ _He isn't a Turk… Why am I even thinking of them? They won't even_ _ **think**_ _of approaching me, just watching from the shadows. This guy,'_ she thought, ' _must be new here.'_

The man slowly made his way to her patch of climbing roses on the left side of the Church and leaned on… Oh no.

 _'_ _D-Did he… Did he r-really?!'_

She saw green.

Scrambling on her feet and hastily stepped down on the very sturdy and well camouflaged wall ladder Rossean made for her, Aerith made her way to the man who was _taking a_ _ **piss**_ _on her_ _well-tended_ _patch_ _of_ _flowers!_ The man was shaking, probably from the release of urine, when she hit him on the back with her staff.

The man quickly turned around after she attacked her. "What the hell woman?! Can't ya see I'm taking a piss here?! Bugger off!" He then went back to continue but Aerith wasn't having that.

With a frown, Aerith activated the Fire Materia equipped on the small holes in the pole guards and lit a part of the man's clothes. Now that the man noticed it, he scrambled away from the wall, trying to pat away the flame.

"Why you!"

"No," she murmured, readying her staff. "How dare **you**!"

A swing from her staff and a fireball appeared, blazing its way to the man. "I worked so hard for these flowers to grow and you took a piss at it!"

"Do **you** know how **hard** it is to make these grow?! **Blood, sweat and tears** were spent on planting on them!" She rushed towards the man who was scrambling away from her, remembering the times where she had to fight against the wannabe muggers on her first visit at Wall Market at Sector 6. "You wouldn't know how hard it is to **carry 5 buckets** of water all the way from my house to Church, would you?!"

The man struggled to get out of the Church, slamming the ancient Gongagan doors to let him out, but he had locked it and it seemed to Aerith the man forgot there was a lock. Fear can make you forget such simple things; though how much of a _man_ the man was when he was faced with a young woman scorned. Something the brunette had found out in only a span of 2 minutes.

"Piss is **not** a suitable replacement for water!" A hit at the ankles. "It is **acid**!" Another at the kneecaps. "How about I get some **Flouroantimonic acid** from the ShinRa tower and pour it into your face?!" An ice here. "HUH?!" A bolt there. "Tell me!" Another at the kneecaps.

"I won't do it again!"

' _Not quite yet. The specimen's reaction isn't the desired result. Restart the entire thing. Crank up the variables more. It may need a bit stronger stimulus.'_

" **I** **can't hear you!** "

Even with a shattered ankle and a frozen leg, the man limped his way towards the ladder. The ladder to the second floor. A slab of ice stopped him on his tracks. Aerith walked slowly to the man, memories of how she resisted against the three stooges.

At the very least, those three were something. They weren't as a coward than this man. What a shame.

"NOOOOOO!"

Aerith stopped in her walk as the man fainted right there. She wondered she was even making her way to the man. It's not like he would be doing any _pissing_ after she froze the place between his legs with her Ice Materia. Sighing, she picked up the man and slowly made her way to the Church's doors.

"Wow."

A young man's voice resounded the entire building, causing Aerith to turn around in a vain attempt to search for the voice's origins. Was the man a-

"Hey, look up. I'm right here! Hey! Here on the roof!"

Aerith looked up and saw a black-haired young man hanging from the Church's roof hole. He had spiky hair – _that amount of gel must be so heavy on the head –_ and wearing a sleeveless hoodie with a white shirt underneath. The young man, maybe around her age of 14 or 15, was wearing jeans and a pair of shoes that seemed to be worn already. He also had a backpack on his back and a pouch bag of sorts around his waist.

"I don't want to be the same as that guy so uh, could I drop down on your flowers? Not that I'm planning to take a piss since I saw you already kicking that guy's ass but you know how things happens so. Anyway, do you mind?"

"Um… You sure you'll be okay?" Her flower patch could soften the fall of the young man but the fall would still hurt him. "I could call for some help?"

"Nah, I've got a Restore Materia here. I could patch myself up! Also, my friend and his brother should be coming down soon so…. Could I?"

With how things turned out, Aerith could only agree to the teen's request. "Okay..."

"Yes!"

And with that, the teen fell down on her flower patch. But before he could reach the ground, he clenched his left fist and something glowed on his bangle. A green glow shone and the black haired boy's descent slowed down until he came to the ground in a very slow fall.

"Booooyah!" the boy with dark blue eyes cried out, turning his body to an upright position and jumped. The green glow then disappeared from his bangle. "Hey, nice to meet you. Sorry for the weird entrance. My friend, his brother and I were being chased up at the Plate because we got lost so we jumped into this hole but Cloud tripped so I was the one who first jumped in. What's your name?"

"Um… Aerith. You?" she answered slowly. She walked towards her flower patch and looked up. Since she was only taking a nap for that afternoon, which is hard to keep track in the Slums unless you have something to keep track with like a clock or a radio, the light coming from the hole at the Plate was shining bright. It grew larger than the last time she looked at it. Most likely the people at the Sector 5 Plate didn't bother to fix it.

"Zack! So…" the boy named Zack trailed off. "Should I help you bring that guy out? I know the feeling of working so hard on something then only to be destroyed afterwards by someone but in your case, only to be peed at, so I can relate to."

"…Yeah. You could help me." Aerith did another look up and saw two figures descending. "Are those…?"

"Huh. Yeah, those are the two. Well, let's bring this guy out."

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As Zack helped her _dump_ the unconscious man – _he better not show his stupid ugly mug at her Church or else an ice to his crotch won't be the only thing he would be receiving –_ at some of the scrap piles in Sector 5, which was just a few block away, Aerith and her new companion witnessed a blond kid falling from the sky with a… cat with makeshift paper wings on its limbs.

The white cat was _flying_ towards the blond kid and created a gust of _something_ to the blond, making him float, just like Zack did a while ago. The cat then slowly descended towards one of the pews near her flower patch and it-

 _'_ _ **He's here. Friend. Family. Survivor. Help. Protector. Brother.**_ **'**

She closed her eyes and kneeled. Aerith sometimes wished The Planet would let her know when She would talk to her. Ever since she was little, she could hear voices. Her **_mom_** told her it was The Planet but since they were way up above the ground, they couldn't hear her well. The voices began to coalesce into a single voice the moment she managed to successfully grow a flower in the Church. After that, it seemed to be a constant chipper to her.

Aerith would then take a few hours off just to _talk – more like listen to the cranky old lady, that's what Aerith thinks of her –_ to The Planet. She would always tell her how to properly channel her magic to the ground to make the flowers grow, albeit she has to find a way first on how to understand the _gibberish_ The Planet was speaking to her. The white bauble on her ponytail tie always helped her to decipher the _gibberish_.

Concentrating on activating the white bauble on her ponytail, she communed with the Planet. It all then slowly being translated to her mind: **_'Survivor like you. Lost family beyond the gates. A friend for you and the others. Help him and help you he will. Like a brother. Wants to protect you. For you are his Family.'_**

That surprised Aerith. Ever since she was little, she was told by her **_mom_** that she was the last of her people. But now she _wasn't?_ Wait, The Planet said _'lost family beyond the gates'_. What did that mean? They were lost? And She said he was a _'survivor'_ like her.

…Aerith took a look again to the cat… Except it wasn't a cat anymore, the cat was now a kid a bit shorter than her with black hair. The kid turned around and smile the moment she and him made eye contact.

The kid smiled and shouted, "Hi! Nice to meet ya!" The kid climbed up on the pew and cried out, again, "I see you met Zack! Was he good with you? Did he cause any trouble for you?!"

"For GAIA'S SAKE! VER! HELP ME GET DOWN HERE! I CAN'T CANCEL YOUR FLOAT!"

All three of them turned towards the still floating blond kid. Good thing Zack closed the door behind them because it would be a very weird sight for anyone to see a floating blond kid.

"Sorry Cloud. Hey Zack. Would you help me?" the kid, whose name was Ver, voiced out.

"Cloud could help himself up after you cancel the Float Ver. He has a Master Magic Materia with him. He has Gravity," Zack remarked beside her.

"No no no. Don't you dare Ver! Don't you dare!"

The kid with a chocobo's nest for hair waved his hand and the floating boy fell down to her flower patch, bottom first.

"Ow." The blond kid glared at Ver and growled. "You'll pay for this Ver!"

"Well it was your fault for getting us into trouble first! Zack and I told you not to go into that factory because we still have to find a place to stay but noooo~" The kid jumped from one pew to another. "You had to go in and _stare_ at the bike."

Aerith sat down on the pew beside her and Zack did the same. "Watch them have an argument. Best thing I've ever seen. I swear," the dark blue eyed teen told her as the blond and the black haired kid keep on talking.

"It was the latest model of the Hardy Daytona Motorbike Series! I heard they were the latest.!"

"Yeah, but your 13 and I'm 11. You can't even ride that thing even If you want to."

"I'm allowed to look at it even if I can't ride on it soon."

"At a distance! At a distance Cloud! The guards were giving us these looks because they thought we're going to steal it!"

"And why would you know what they were thinking? Besides, it was _your_ fault that they chased us. You just _had_ to short circuit that console panel."

"Excuse me, I have no papers on my name and yours is outdated! I was **_listening_** to the old man at Asgard telling us to renew your papers at Midgar the first thing we get there and have me to get registered."

"Hmmph. Maybe getting arrested would be the fastest thing to get our records."

"…Have we forgotten Corel and the Black Chocobo?"

"Shut up!"

"See," Zack said beside her. "Entertaining."

Aerith smiled lightly. "You're right."

The Planet has been telling her for almost 2 years of a **_change_** but She couldn't tell Aerith about it. So to think the **_change_** was actually a lost member of her people and 2 more companions was something she wasn't expecting.

"So, you got any place for the night?" She asked. "You three seemed to have travelled to Midgar for something."

"Yeah, we were searching for a cheap place to stay at the Plate but the train tickets to Midgar from Asgard ate our wallets, _alive_. We can't afford the _hotels_ above so yeah, we really don't have a place to stay."

"Hm…" Well the Church is a place of charity and selfishness so… "That means you three just have to stay here then!" Aerith said with a clap of her hands. "Now that's settled, let me get some stuff at my house for you guys."

"Wa-wait a minute!"

Standing up and _striding_ towards the doors, she asked, "Oh? You want to help me?"

"Y-yeah but, wait, no no no, I mean-"

She ignored his second thoughts. "Great, follow me then. I know my mom will be quite disappointed in me staying at the Church again for the night but she understands why."

Besides, The Planet was vehement in Her assertions that the kid was a one of her people. He also could turn into an animal, like the Gaelicat. So this _'slumber party'_ would be the best way to learn new things about the three.

"Hey, you two. Stay here okay? You three are going to stay here for the night! No, it's non-negotiable. You three are staying **here**! Okay?!"

A resounding 'Yes' answered her question. With that done, she carried the staff on one hand and pushed the door. The three seemed to be a group of nice guys and The Planet vouched for them if She didn't make any qualms on her decision. Aerith had a bunch of things to request to her mother.

And maybe some stuff to buy at Wall Market.


	7. Zack: Lament on your own boisterousness

Don't Touch Me

Now that he thought about it for about 5 minutes or so, going out to train at the Gongagan Forest all alone wasn't a great idea. Not a single bit at all. Although it seemed to be a great idea at that time, proving he could handle being all alone when the time came for him to leave to the biggest city in the world, Midgar, the resulting scenario he found himself in was so not worth it. And to think it was because he was being persuaded by his dad to follow his footsteps. A.K.A dropping hints every now and then and the blatant display of his workshop equipment in their living room at almost every hour of the day.

Everyone in the village knew that he doesn't want to have the same job as his dad, who was a lumberjack, and that he wanted to be more. More than being a son of a lumberjack. It wasn't cool and all. He's sick of trees and he had been around trees ever since he can remember. So when news came about a successful ' _conquest'_ on Wutai by the brand new security personnel of ShinRa, SOLDIERs, and was led by the **strongest** SOLDIER – _all caps because SOLDIERs are much_ ** _better_** _than normal soldiers_ -, Sephiroth, Zack desired to be like one of them. The heroes of the Wutai War. **SOLDIERs** . And the **SOLDIER** of the SOLDIERs was said to be 12 at most during those times.

Something Zack couldn't believe at first but soon became a goal of sorts for him to reach. If Sephiroth – _which was a codename or a title since heroes_ ** _don't_** _use their real names and wasn't that a word that meant 'life' in ancient Edean? Really inspiring!_ _–_ could become a hero at 12, then that would mean Zack could be one as well! And he was 14, going 15! He's much older than Sephiroth at his age when he went to Wutai!

Zack's decision to leave for Midgar and join SOLDIER was made when the news of another successful takeover of a Wutai encampment was made known through the radios a few months after the first announcement and the arrival of the SOLDIER Recruiters at Gongaga by a _helicopter_ a week after it. From what he heard from the people coming from outside Gongaga, the Western Continent is a very _different and strange_ place for them since the monsters living there were apparently _much stronger_ than the ones at the Eastern Continent. Which made some sort of sense because the man with a black 'suit' – _his mom said it was so maybe it is_ _–_ complained at the small inn he usually helps around about the lack of concrete roads and how they must fly using a _Gelnika_.

The _Gelnika,_ the helicopter the Recruiters used, was a very big vehicle. Vehicles were rare in the Western Continent and the only vehicle in Gongaga was a pick-up truck that was being used for bringing the lumber they have to Costa del Sol and bringing back supplies for the entire town on the return trip. And it was owned by that cranky old man who also owned the general store in Gongaga.

The Recruiters were there for about a week only, according to the old ladies that always hang at the general store, and they had brought some workers at the only Mako Reactor in the Gongagan Region to do some maintenance. After hearing that, Zack decided to join with the Recruiters when they go back to Midgar. But he doesn't want to go unprepared. No, he doesn't want to be humiliated like the time he brought back a fruit to his mom only to find it wasn't a fruit but actually a monster shaped like a fruit and _pretended_ to be a fruit.

His mom wasn't amused at all.

So Zack trained. He went to the nearby Gongagan Forest to train himself because the monsters in the Forest were said to be stronger than the ones at the Eastern Continent. He already beaten some of the monsters before so he was sure he could train his body to the expectations of a SOLDIER. Well, of course it wouldn't be complete but his dad always says he should prepare on whatever plan he was doing so prepare he was doing. Punching, kicking, flexing his limbs, building the muscles on his arms and his 'stamina'. He did all those things by fighting the monsters at the forest.

What he didn't prepare for was to be caught by the very infamous pests in the whole world that caused Gongaga and its nearby towns to be known other than the amazing quality of their trees and tropical fruits and vegetables.

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The Recruiters were supposed to leave Gongaga to some place called Nibelheim that afternoon, which meant anyone who wanted to join SOLDIER would have until sunset to join the in the _Gelnika_ before they leave. So when the morning dawn cracked, Zack was up and already packing his things for his planned trip to become a SOLDIER. The 15-year-old knew his parents wouldn't allow him to join SOLDIER because they wanted him to be a part of the town's business, and that is woodcarving, logging, farming, livestock production or just being a merchant at the general store.

Old Man Mario was giving him strange looks whenever he came to the store and it gave him the creeps when Old Man Mario did so, but his parents saw it as some sort of 'job reservation' **when** he decides to **get** a job in Gongaga. Basically, his parents don't want him to leave the town because ' _why should he when he has lots to do here?'._

And Zack **disagrees** with them. Disagrees with a passion of Ifrit's Hellfire. He knew he was meant to be more than just a country boy.

So by using the reason of 'scouting out mature trees for logging' to his parents in order to be permitted to go at the Gongagan Forest, Zack managed to get the needed last minute time to train his body for the SOLDIER Exams.

That morning, way before Margery's rooster could make its annoying crow, he packed up his clothes and anything he thought would be useful in his SOLDIER journey. Zack left his house, passed by and dropped some at the inn and went to the forest nearby at the crack of dawn, at the exact time the rooster claimed to be the town's natural alarm clock, concentrated on using the leftover time he had for any last minute training.

From what he heard from the gossip made by some of the Recruiters who stayed at the inn was that they were going around the world for any potential recruits while doing maintenance to the Reactors. They were the Western Continent group so the last stop was Nibelheim, a small city/town somewhere in the mountains, and they would return to Midgar immediately. Or take a detour at Rocket Town – _he was pretty sure Rocket Town wasn't its actual name_ _–_ if they got some extra time. So far, they haven't got any recruits so when - _not if_ _-_ Zack comes to them afternoon, that would make him the only recruit they have gotten in the Western Continent that year.

Last year he missed the yearly SOLDIER Recruiters because he and his dad were the ones doing the delivering of the collected lumber and buying supplies at Corel and Costa del Sol. On that 14-day road trip (a week to collect from the towns and go to Costa del Sol and another week to bring them back) Zack and his dad went through, they had to do the actual restocking of the other general stores of the nearby towns of Dunedoo, the town near the desert region of Corel and coincidentally acts as a bridge town from Gongaga Region to the Corel Region at the Geminismi Strait; Geelong, the town near the coast of the Sea of Ramuh and has the best tasting fish ever; Howlong, the town that focused much of their land on vegetables and livestock; and Tittybong, which was basically like Gongaga except they have more swampy trees than theirs. In all, he missed the arrival of the ShinRa Recruiters and had to wait for the next year.

He could travel all the way to Midgar by himself, and it wouldn't be so hard, except his parents wouldn't allow him and would probably chain him down just like what people said about Chester's parents did to him when he went into the Reactor with the Titan Materia. Well, he would just have to bring himself to the Recruiters and he would be on his way to Midgar faster than his parents would notice. And chances were, his parents wouldn't be able to do a thing after he got to Midgar because it's **_Midgar,_** a city said to be **16** cities in one location. It could even be called a _region_ all by itself!

He had a small pack of lunch with him, packed the night before without his parents noticing him, so he wouldn't have to go back to the town when he got hungry. His belongings were under the inn's front table, safely secured and ready to be picked up when he left and was watched by Carol – _bless her and her husband – _ for safekeeping.

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 _'I should haven't chased that Durian and Flower Prong!'_ Zack mentally complained. He was now lost in the Gongagan Forest, about 3 hours after he left the town for his last day at Gongaga. ' _Not even sure I'm still at the Gongagan Forest. Maybe I'm already at the_ ** _Ancient Forest_** _!'_

The Flower Prong must have looped around some trees in an attempt to lose him and it worked. Zack was now lost in a maze of trees and vines. _'Well, there's a river going through the town so I guess I should find a river and follow it.'_ He searched for a river, looking out for any signs of a clearing because rivers hate to have trees near them from what he had seen during his trips with his father around the Gongagan Region.

It was just his luck that he was correct on trusting his hunch on following a certain path through the forest; it was also his luck that there were a bunch of monsters there at the river he had found. He noticed there were a whole group of frogs fast asleep along the edges of the river.

He also noticed some animals and creatures scurrying away from the river as he approached it but he paid no attention to it at that time. Now that Zack saw the group of frogs, his blanched. One of the older men at the town brought a frog to the village once and it caused almost all of the people to be turned into _frogs._ The frogs were _Touch Mes_ and they were infamous for their ability to change _anyone_ into a frog.

A loud crack from a fallen branch was made, causing the sleeping frogs to wake up and look around. _'Crap! Why didn't I notice that branch?'_ Zack quickly hastened his steps, backtracking to the forest when he heard a croak. _'Oh no.'_ Followed by another croak and another and another…

' _Odin, help me!'_

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' _No wonder the other creatures of the forest were running away! And here I thought they were afraid of me.'_

He was now a frog, a toad or whatever one would call the creature he was now. And currently he was running – _more like hopping away_ _–_ from a bird that seemed to be focused on catching him. It was a strange colored bird because it was a white bird. A white hawk to be exact, which was strange because as far as he knew, there weren't any hawks in the Gongagan Forest. Unless…

' _Unless I_ ** _am_** _in the Ancient Forest! Odin, help me!'_ He quickened his hops and tried to hide his squishy body behind some roots of the trees in the forest. Being a frog usually ends around 3 to 4 hours after being turned into one, it was a fact everyone in Gongaga learned to follow if one doesn't have a Maiden Kiss or a Remedy ready. Also, even if Zack brought any of the 'antidotes' for being a Frog, it would only be hidden away on his human body to whatever space or place it was thrown at after being turned into a frog, so Zack would have to wait for 3 to 4 hours to change back into a human.

A screech and he found himself up in the air. _'What the…?!'_ He was captured by the hawk! How did it found him behind the root? _'I should have jumped into the river, at least I won't drown there!'_

Making a quick prayer to whatever deity that would listen to him – _oh Odin, Titan, Bahamut, Shiva, please don't let me be eaten by this hawk!_ – _,_ Zack hoped he could escape after the hawk landed as he slumped in defeat on the claws of the hawk. The hawk _warked_ when it noticed his act of surrender, making its flight faster. Zack, using his two eyes – _which was kinda cool because frogs could see in_ ** _color_** –, saw that he was being brought to a cliff overlooking the forest and… wow.

' _Is that…? Gongaga? Wow! I am so far away from Gongaga. Then if that's Gongaga and that's the Gongagan Forest, I must be at…!'_

The hawk dropped him high up in the air to the cliff it was approaching before. In his surprise, Zack flailed his limbs, or at least the frog equivalent of limbs, in the air in an attempt to prevent his fall. ' _That hawk was just playing with me! Why would it let me fall to the ground like this?! I'm gonna be flat like a tomato thrown at the wall!'_

Because he saw his hometown all the way up in the air, Zack guessed that whatever cliff he was being dropped to was pretty much higher than the tallest tree in the Gongagan Forest. And the cliff would be the last thing he would see before he would be a splat on the cliff's ground.

He was only 15, or 14 according to his parents but he's always a kid to their eyes, and he have lot to do with his life. He was going to be a SOLDIER and become a hero! Everyone will be amazed at him and saw him as something more than just a son of a lumberjack in a small town in the countryside of the Western Continent.

And to make this the worst of the all, he still hasn't kissed anyone yet!

The white bird dived right beside him by making its wings come closer to its body, clearly wanting to be at the ground to see him become a flattened imitation of a frog pancake by making its descent faster than his, causing Zack to shut his eyes on the sudden gust of wind. He decided not to open his eyes afterwards because before he closed his eyes, the cliff was coming closer to him and he doesn't want to see it as he fall.

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The next thing he knew was that he was strangely on top of boy younger than him. The boy was clearly shocked, his eyes wide opened and a blush on his cheeks, but what made it strange was that Zack was **on top** of the boy in a very weird position. It was like he fell on the boy and the action made the two of them fall to the ground.

Zack the realized that he was back into his normal _human_ body. _"_ Was it already 4 hours?" he asked out loud. The blond boy, who was still below him, tried to push him off and grumbled, "No but it surely took a second for me to taste a frog!" Because Zack was sitting on the boy's stomach, the blond couldn't get out of their position.

"Ver! Get out from there and help me off this oaf! That wasn't funny!" the boy called out to someone. Zack quickly got off from the boy and noticed that he was really back to his human body, no limbs missing and his backpack on his back returned from whatever place it went to. "Sorry for falling over you, I was turned into a frog and this hawk scooped me up and then… Wait, where's the hawk?"

"Stupid little brother who couldn't understand the word _wait_ ," the boy spat out in a low voice and stood up slowly from the ground. He dusted off the dirt on his open jacket and made weird faces, as if he was trying to vomit something from. Recognizing the action, Zack apologized, "Sorry for that. I know how a frog tastes… Wait a minute...!"

The blond grunted in affirmation. "Yes, you basically dropped on my mouth then transformed back into a human. You then fell on me after you turned back." He then sighed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be so…"

"Grumpy?" Zack offered. Anyone would be grumpy if a frog was forced to your mouth. Just like Marian who was used as a 'guinea pig' on the 'traditional' curing method of being Frogged. She was spouting _flames_ for almost a week at Joshua because of it, even if her little sister was cured of being _toad-ed_.

The blond nodded. "Yeah, grumpy. Frog, toad, whatever tastes weird on my mouth. Ugh. Where's the water? I need to take it off my mouth." He patted his body and when the boy noticed nothing on him, turned around to reach his bag.

Zack, because he's a decent and nice person, rummaged too in his backpack – _thank Odin that its back_ – and found a water bottle first than the boy. He then handed it over to the blond and said, "Here. Take it. Frogs and toads _really_ tastes weird. Trust me."

The blue-eyed boy – _wow, they're much brighter than his_ _–_ accepted it with a small ' _thanks'_. "I think I already know firsthand what it really tastes like." He then used it gargle his mouth, which was silly because he didn't swallow a frog to be exact. He just 'kissed' a frog, which is still disgusting because Odin knows what kind of dirt he was in before being cured of the status effect. Nasty status effect. Ever.

After the boy finished spatting out the last of his water, he returned the bottle to Zack. "Thanks for the water. Oh, by the way I'm Cloud," the boy introduced himself, bowing his head in thanks.

"Cool. Name's Zack. Nice to meet you," Zack replied, handing out his hand. Cloud took and shook it. "So… Where's the hawk? I know I was a frog before and I was up in the air because of it."

Cloud – _that hairstyle... it somehow look familiar_ _–_ ducked his head and looked around. "He's supposed to be here right now. Oh there he is. Come here you!" He then ran towards the tree that was behind them. The blond then grabbed something and a bird fell down from the tree. To be exact, it was the same bird that rescued him from the birds that was trying to take a snack out of him.

He now remembered clearly that the hawk was chasing the Largebills and Peach Crows away and gone to chase him afterwards. Now that Zack thought about, maybe that was _what_ the hawk was trying to do. Rescue him from being lunch to those oversized birds. At first, the birds were wary of him, being a frog that looked like a Touch Me and they were notorious to turn _anyone_ into a frog, something that Zack experienced quite **intimately** , that they desperately tried to avoid coming into his way. But then a Peach Crow, a bird **much** larger than a chicken which also makes its meat much delicious and a local delicacy in Gongaga, pecked at him at the back, to which Zack proceeded to scamper away; it led to the birds' discovery of him not a Touch Me at all.

Thank Odin that the hawk that saved him really had no plan to make him its snack. However, it had a terrible sense of humor. From the stunt it did to him a while ago, tricking him into believing he was falling to his demise only to be cured by having him be 'kissed' by a person, Zack had a feeling that Cloud was a frequent victim of the hawk's pranks.

"Verä! Next time let me know if you're going to drop an older guy at me, okay? Even if he's a toad!" The way he said the name was like a ' _fera'_ but Zack had an inkling it was his accent, since Cloud doesn't appear to be a Gongagan at all, or a native of the Gongagan Subcontinent. Maybe from somewhere North? The white hawk recovered from its fall and flew to a backpack at the base of a nearby tree.

It then seemed to give Cloud a look that somehow spoke 'I did nothing wrong!'. Sighing, Cloud went to the hawk and crouched to its level. " _Ich sage Verä Sie sind ein Ärgernis, das Zack._ " Okay, now Zack was sure he's not from Walla Walla, which was near Cosmo Canyon and the most remote settlement in the Gongagan Subcontinent. No one in the Gongagan Subcontinent speaks with _that_ accent or _that dialect_. The hawk bowed its head and made a warble, probably from shame, which made Zack smile. A hawk that could understand a person and even feel emotions much be a well-trained animal.

Though how the hawk could give any kind impressions of what it was thinking made him wonder of its intelligence as Cloud rose up from the ground and turned to him. "Sorry for the stunt Verä did to you ago. He may have the best interests in mind but it seemed he couldn't resist playing a trick on me. And you too." Verä, the white hawk, flew and landed itself on Cloud's shoulder, strangely it managed to perch itself completely on the boy's shoulders. Cloud certainly have a wide shoulder for his age. Verä then tried to play with the boy's hair, only to be stopped by a swipe from the boy. In retaliation, it pulled at the small ponytail Cloud had – _that's new, never saw a boy had a small ponytail at the back of his head; certainly not from around here_ – and actually caused the boy to cry in surprise.

Zack laughed at the scene and waved his hands. "It's okay, It's okay. I'm fine, alright? Thanks for the save, those birds were almost this-" He then used his fingers to make a pinch. "-close to being bird chow." Cloud ducked his head and actually _blushed._ "Really? You don't get complimented that much?"

The boy avoided his gaze and said, "Well, people hate our family back at our place so…" He then shook his head. "Not really." Cloud stepped back and went to the shade of the tree where the bag was at. "It's lunchtime now, you hungry or what?"

The black haired boy wanted to deny that he was hungry but his stomach replied for him instead by making a loud _growl_. "If you insist."

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Zack learned a lot from the blond and his hawk, which he treated like a sibling by making notions of it acting like a person on certain situations. As they ate their packed lunches, Zack with his own lunch inside his just-returned-backpack-from-wherever-it-was-kept-at and Cloud with something he apparently made when he was camping, Zack learned that the boy was travelling all the way to the Eastern Continent from some place called Nibelheim.

"Hey, it's a nice town. We got a lot of snow which makes it great. I love the cold but for some reason my body got used to it that I have to, you know, cast lots of Blizzards to keep the heat away in this place! It's weird but it isn't **strange** ," Cloud said after Zack commented on how _strange_ 'Nibelheim' as a name. "Besides, what kind of name is Gongaga anyway?!"

"Okay, I surrender! Both of our hometowns have strange names! Well, to be honest, almost _all_ of the towns and cities in the world sound strange at first."

The boy scoffed at it. "You just don't want to admit that Gongaga is the **strangest** name of them all." Zack responded it with a light flick to the boy's forehead. Cloud retorted by sticking out his tongue.

When he asked why Cloud didn't just rode a bus or a train to the Eastern Continent, Zack was met with a weird look.

"Zack, The Western Continent have a huge mountain range in the middle which have lots of snowstorms at almost all the time. There aren't any roads going through there and the only way to get to Costa del Sol was to go through here."

"Spike, you're not answering my question."

"Hey, why are you calling me that?!"

"You have spikes for hair."

"So do you!"

"You tell me it's all natural like mine? They say I have been using gels for shampoo which isn't true 'cause hair gels are sticky and doesn't really feels good on the head afterwards."

"Uhuh. And, uh," Cloud paused momentarily, picking his lunch of some sort of sandwich with some good-looking meat in it. Looks like cured Bandersnatch meat. "Mom doesn't really have a lot of money before she died and, uh, all that was left was enough for food and other things."

Zack went silent after he heard the boy mentioned his late mother. "If I used it for a ride, then I would be left with nothing. So I decided to travel by foot." Cloud then smiled slightly. "Besides, there weren't any vehicles at that time and if there were, well… they would just cost us more than what it should be. The people there hated our guts for no reason at all."

His face turned sour after saying that. "Why am I even speaking these things to you anyway? We just met and spent only a few minutes together, but you- " he said then pointed to Zack, whose mind was still working on the fact that Cloud, the blond _kid_ in front of him, was travelling _all alone_ by _himself_ to the Eastern Continent on _foot_. "You… you seem to be a nice guy. I think I can trust you, right?"

Zack nodded at Cloud and gave him a hug, his own lunch of chicken sandwiches all set aside before moving. "It's alright Spike! Those people who hated your guts don't know how great you are. Why, you are practically living on your own ever since you left your hometown right? That's amazing! I bet those old misers at Nibelheme can't even make their way out of the town proper!"

Cloud chuckled at Zack's small speech, laugh muffled by the shirt he was tucked in by the hug. He patted Zack's back, signaling to stop hugging him for now, and Zack did so, sitting back to his position underneath the tree's shade. "Cut it out, will ya? And its Ni-Bel-Heim. Not Ni-bel- **HE** - **MEH**. It's _ha-aiym._ Say it with me. Ni-bel-heim."

"Nebel-shemer. Whatever. Anyhow…" Zack stopped, turning his head around at the vast forest below their position. Since Zack, Cloud and his hawk, who was off somewhere after the kid scolded it, were so high up on the cliff, Zack could see a small speck of something flying off from the direction of Gongaga and was on its way to him. More specifically, towards their direction. Zack stood up, eyes wide open in shock, recognizing the black blur that flew past them.

The _Gelnika_ proved why it was one of the fastest vehicles ShinRa had made when in only a matter of a couple of minutes it flew from Gongaga and passed by the cliff Zack was on. His companion gasped as the _Gelnika_ caused the trees on the cliff to scatter their leaves and made a mess, judging from the cries of complaints he was making.

"…Ah." That was all Zack could muster. His plan of riding the helicopter to Midgar was done for. He would be stuck another year or so before the Recruiters would return or until he could convince his parents to let him go. "There goes my ride."

"I'm not a fan of vehicles but really, I know for sure that wasn't yours." Zack gave Cloud a face of disappointment when turned around to the blond. Cloud looked away. "Sorry."

"It's fine. It's fine. I could wait another year before they would come back and I'm off to Midgar. Be a SOLDIER. Be a **hero**!" he said, smiling. "You know why I'm out in the forest, right?"

His companion shook his head. "Nope." That was cold. Frigid.

"Come on, humor me for a moment," Zack groaned out. With a smile, he continued, "Anyway, I'm off fighting monsters here, training, for SOLDIER! I heard they are super soldiers that could beat any monster in the world and they are off being _heroes_ at Wutai!" He sat down beside Cloud, head down with a sad expression on his face, replacing his previous happiness. "But I won't be a SOLDIER if I couldn't make it to Midgar. My parents won't allow me to go and I couldn't think of running away."

"Why?" Cloud asked. "Why couldn't you?"

"The people here know me and my family personally that even if I tried to ride a truck to Dunedoo, they would stop me and call my parents to fetch me. I tried it a month ago and I was grounded after they caught me at the highway."

Cloud hummed, which caught Zack's attention. He looked at the blond and saw his eyes were focused. He had a serious expression on his face and Zack would bet he was contemplating something.

"Maybe, hmm… Maybe you could join us?" Cloud asked after a minute of silence.

"…What? Really…? I mean, seriously? You would do that?!"

Cloud smirked. "Me and Ver are travelling already for quite some time so we aren't strangers on the road. We really _could_ use some help to be honest. And besides, you are planning to join this… what do you call it again?"

"SOLDIER."

"Yeah, soldier. Whatever it is, it's at Midgar, right? I'm going to Midgar too. Going to find the relatives of my mother out there. She used to tell us stories of how she had a very large family at Kalm." Cloud stood up, patting his clothes off of any dust and leaves. "It's a city past beyond Midgar so we would pass by it anyway. Last I heard, you **have** to ride a train to Kalm because the monsters between the two cities are so vicious you would be _dead_ just by looking at them. Which is kinda silly, if you ask me."

Zack shook his head. "I… You lost me back there. But meh. Spike! You're the best!" He stood up and launched himself on the shorter teen. Cloud's spiky hair nuzzled his face, burying his nose on his hair, but Zack wasn't perturbed about it. "You really made the best _alibi_ for me to get out of Gongaga."

"Huh…? But I thought you were running away?" Cloud asked after he dislodged himself off Zack by pushing the taller teen off of him. He straightened his clothes before continuing, "I mean, what _alibi_?"

"That you were separated from your parents and had to be brought to Dunedoo, which was the last place your parents are said to be going. I don't know what should I say afterwards but I would say that you latched on to me, seeing me as a big brother, so I **had** to accompany you to Dunedoo!" His grin just became more animated. "Then you and I will cross the bridge and ran away before the others will notice! Maybe they will even help us in the name of kindness!"

A screech was then heard by Zack from a tree above him, which caused him to remember the white hawk. "Oh yeah, you, me and your hawk. Sorry." The white hawk dropped from the branch he was in, along with a pouch it was apparently holding on, and threw it towards Cloud; he caught it with his eyes shining bright and a smile on his face.

"Took you long." The bird cried back in reply, though Zack wondered how the two managed to understand each other when one is a _bird._ Probably got used to it as time passed by. "Hm… Remedies and some Potions. Huh, you got a spray type? Wonder _how_ you got that."

The bird flew off to Titan knows where as Cloud finished rummaging through the pouch it had brought at him. "So… Your bird knows how to buy stuff? And they actually treated it as a customer? Neat." His comment was received well by Cloud, with how the kid smiled faintly as they cleaned up the stuff scattered around. Zack saw Cloud took its contents and placed it on the various pockets and clasps he had around his belt and it made Zack wonder how in Gaia did the kid learned how to be that… _handy_.

"You really look like a proper _adventurer_ now," he commented, smiling. "That jacket with pockets in it, a _tool-belt_ used as a handy Potion-holder, and clasps for that… wait, you even got a sword?!"

Cloud pushed him off him after Zack rushed towards the blond, goal in mind to inspect the strangely designed sword Cloud had. "Where did you hid that and how? I never saw it before when I, uh, got back."

"My little brother found it back at Nibelheim at some Materia Cave and I used magic to make it smaller. Easier to hide, you know. And easier to carry. It has these runes that allowed magic to affect it easier. See?" Cloud raised it and the Materia equipped at its slots started to glow. The _rune_ sword then began to _blaze_ and Zack had to back off from the sudden surge of heat.

"Cool. You only have one?" Cloud gave him a sad smile and Zack took it as an answer. "It's alright. I bet I could find one here, since we're here already in the Ancient Forest." The blond tilted his head in confusion before it changed to straightened up, eyes and mouth wide open.

"You knew about it too?!" Cloud asked. "Well, I guess you would know it since you're a Gongagan after all."

"Hmm…? And how did you found about the Legend of the Ancient Forest Temple?" He teasingly asked. The chance of finding a _magic_ sword in the Ancient Forest was too small than it was to find a concrete road. The Legend of the Ancient Forest Temple was practically an ancient fairytale in the Gongagan Subcontinent: about how an ancient city built at where the Ancient Forest now is found and how it was said to be full of treasures hidden from the public. It was said to be a treasure city of the Ancients, part of an empire that used to rule the world before the calendar was even made! Though for some strange reason, they all disappeared.

"I heard it from Cosmo Canyon and at the store in Walla Walla. I believe the legend is **true** because hey, I have a **_magic sword_** here!" Cloud showed off his _rune_ sword and threw a wave of fire from it, hitting a patch of grass before it died out instantly. "And of course, there's a reason why it's called the **Ancient** Forest, right?"

"Uhuh, you sure about that?" Well, okay, the kid had a point. There **must** be a reason why everyone called it the **Ancient** Forest. "You're sure on tackling the Ancient Forest? I got turned into a _toad_ for Titan's sake! The monsters here are much... wait a minute, we _are_ in the Ancient Forest already."

Cloud stuck out his tongue. "We're still going to go through the forest on the way out so a _little exploration_ wouldn't be a big deal in the end, right? Besides, you need a _partner_ because you just said so. You got turned into a _toad_. You _need_ someone to _fix_ you if you got turned into one, again. And…" Zack saw Cloud turned around and heard him speak in a low voice, "We could use some help."

The Nibel native twisted around and marched off towards a beaten path off the cliff. "So, you in or not?"

Zack smiled. "Come on. Don't be shy. Of course, I'll be coming with you. You said it yourself, we're _in_ the Ancient Forest so it wouldn't hurt if we tried to search for the temple while making our way out. And I need you as my alibi, by the way, so no running away from me, okay?" he said, finger pointing towards Cloud and posing in his mother's 'scolding position'.

"Whatever. You better pick up the pace then," Cloud replied before skipping down the beaten path. Zack followed suit quickly, backpack at his back.

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Much to both of their expectations, the monsters they encountered in the Ancient Forest were different than what they were used to. Zack got used to fighting bird-type and some bug-type monsters near the Gongaga Forest, which was his mostly used training ground, while Cloud was used to fighting the lizard-type monsters of Cosmo Canyon, wolves of the Nibel Area, and some fish-type monsters that, according to him, could live on the ground as well in water. The Ancient Forest monsters were different.

They were plant-based monsters and Cloud complained they weren't fighting _monsters_ but _plants_ instead. Zack agreed with all of his heart because they just _burned_ a couple of walking _flowers_ with _sharp teeth_ at their centers. They had a _mouth_ and Zack shivered thinking about the poor animals that might have been its dinner earlier.

Sure, there were some of the bug-type monsters, most if not all, that liked to throw out poisonous attacks that caused both of the boys to cough like no tomorrow and paralyzing spores that made their limbs stiff like a rock, but fighting plants was a strange experience for Zack. He had no idea if Cloud himself have encountered their types before but with the way the blond was muttering 'burn to ashes, rocks will fall', Zack was sure he hasn't.

Nevertheless, they breezed past through them with magic. Cloud had given him some of his spare Elemental Materias and Zack gleefully used the bunch against the pesky bug and plant-type monsters. Materia was expensive, **_very expensive_** , and Zack was so grateful for the gift Cloud had given to him. His companion gave him a confused look when he thanked the kid but then again, Cloud had a _bag_ full of Materia that Zack wondered if the kid sold Materia to the towns he passed through.

As they went further in the forest, they began to encounter some pretty weird monsters. No more bugs and animal-eating flowers. The monsters they encountered were now birds and a strange plant-type monster, a tall stalk with a leaf on its top that had an eye and had a lot of thorns **on top** of its own thorns. Much like their previous counterparts at the outer parts of the forest, the two types of monsters liked to throw some pretty weird attacks. Like the bird that prefer to throw some liquid that hurt both of them like they had eaten rotten food; they had to prepare several Remedies and Antidotes after that just in case they encounter them again: their attacks were so poisonous that it worked almost instantly. Despite it being a different type of poison attack, it still belonged to the same category Remedies and Antidotes can cure.

But it wasn't that problematic compared to the stuff the one-eyed leaf brought to the them. The plant-type monster has the weird ability to cause several leaves in the forest to target them and **always** managed to kick some dust at their eyes. No matter they tried to cover their eyes when it began to call the leaves, both of them **always** got blinded. Cloud mused it was some sort of magic attack which Zack countered that they were just unlucky.

"What did we do to anger it?! That leaf monster must be pissed at us or something. Its eyes were bulging out Spike. Bulging. Out," Zack cried out as he and Cloud stopped by a huge flower that has thorns and spikes on its petals. Good thing it wasn't moving or else Zack would gladly burn it to a crisp. Maybe it was the parent or a relative of the walking flowers?

"Maybe that's why they liked to blind us? Because they only got one eye and they always got blinded?" Cloud threw a toad he had caught at a nearby stream at the large flower and immediately closed when the toad landed on its center. Zack wished it was a Touch Me though. It would be the perfect payback to those buggers. "Sorry, little guy. But it has to be done," Cloud said with regret and sorrow in his voice. Zack would have been sorry for the toad but… he got turned into a toad and chased by Largebills. Toads aren't on his 'saving list' anymore. Regardless if it's a normal toad.

Touch Me evolved from normal toads and such, it was necessary to kill all toads. For the future generations of Gongagans.

The two then passed through the path the large flower was blocking. It had closed up immediately after Cloud threw the toad at it. It was… pleasing to see the toad be stunned at the realization it was thrown on a flower with thorns. With how it shut tightly and the toad made noises of protest and fear, it made Zack grin. Too bad Cloud caught those buggers before him; it would be an amazing way to release his frustrations.

Zack and Cloud then entered an area where the trees surrounding them seemed to be more congested and packed together. They were now near at some caves, making Zack wonder if there were any monsters living inside them. "Hey! Look. What's that?" Cloud said, pointing to an armlet stuck at a crevice of the stone wall. Cloud went to it and tried to pry it off the wall, but to no avail.

"It's an… armlet. A bangle." Zack gripped the bangle where his given Materia was equipped at. "Maybe a lightning strike will help it loosen it up," he said, charging up the Thunder in his hand. He let it reach to a certain level of strength and released it, a lightning bolt forming from his extended palm towards the area surrounding the armlet. Cloud had already backed up and moved away from it, ensuring his own safety though he still readied a Wall, translucent glass-like wall made out of magic appearing at Cloud's command.

The blast was loud and booming that it caused a lot of stones to explode, hitting the Wall erected beforehand. Good thing he was behind the Wall Cloud had casted because the chunks of rock were enormous, which were soon all lying in front of the casted magic shield. The armlet was on the ground, just a meter away from them and complete intact and no scratch at all.

"…If this doesn't prove the legend was true, then nothing will," Cloud remarked as he knelt down and picked up the armlet, appraising it front of Zack who was looming overhead. It had six slots for Materia, had designs of some sort of spectral being on its underside while having a plain black color on its front, and were gold on its edges. "It's beautiful." Zack noticed after he leaned closely that there were red highlights on its black façade, making it a bit…

"Seems too girlish to me," Zack commented. "Too small and, to be honest, I doubt it would fit right on your arm."

"Yeah, wonder if I could try and have you wear it, hmm?" Cloud quipped back. "I should keep it and save it. Who knows. Maybe we would meet someone who would be perfect for this bangle."

Cloud stored it in a pocket on his tool-belt and stood up, dusting off the rubble that went over the Wall while Zack went towards the brand-new tunnel he had made with his charged Thunder. He peeked in and saw the interior of the cave was large. Larger than the Town Hall in Gongaga and it was, for some reason, lit with a green hue. He also took notice that there were two openings at the distance, probably connecting to the other parts of the forest or the actual entrance to the cave.

"Hey! Let me in, will you? Can't squeeze my way," Cloud said behind him, looking around the area they were in. Zack moved, allowing the shorter kid to enter, and gained a smirk on his face at the expression Cloud had on his face after he saw the cave interior. "Wow. Hey, look at that! Mako Crystals!"

Cloud then sprinted towards a green crystal that was lodged on the wall of the cave interior. Now that the blond had mentioned it, the cave was _littered_ with the green crystals and were responsible for the lighting the otherwise dark location. "You say they're Mako Crystals?" Zack asked, picking up the comment Cloud made.

"Uhuh." His companion was taking in the sight of the crystals were making on the cave ceiling with a grin on his face. "Mako naturally crystallizes when they're outside the Mako Springs or out of the Mako Pools. According to the books I read, they were used as some sort of energy source by the Ancients before they disappeared and I know it's kinda true because I heard the Mako Reactors constantly have Crystals forming outside the place," Cloud spoke as he ran towards the entrance they just went through. "Hey, Ver! Take a look at this!"

A few moments after Cloud shouted, the white hawk swooped it through the large hole and perched on the kid's shoulder. "Aren't they beautiful?" A chirp from the hawk and Cloud's grin grew wider. "Bet that there's some hidden tunnel right around the corner, just like in Cosmo Canyon?"

Zack was about to ask what Cloud had meant about 'just like in Cosmo Canyon' but Cloud ran off with his pet white hawk, leaving him to chase them afterwards. Well, Cloud said he came from Nibelheim so he must have passed through Cosmo Canyon before coming to the area around Gongaga. And there was also how he had 'read' about Mako Crystals from a book. Rumors said that Cosmo Canyon was a place for some research about the Planet so if Cloud had read something about the crystals formed from the Mako Reactors, he must have gone to Cosmo Canyon and read. Though how did they come up with the idea of the crystals as some sort source of energy was something Zack didn't give any serious thought. It wasn't that important for now.

What was important was to chase the boy and his bird to whatever part of the vast cavern they were in before the monsters that could have been hiding attack them. Zack knew that Cloud could handle them on his own, with his _rune_ sword and the magic he could cast with Materia, but it would be bad if he got outnumbered or got blinded or paralyzed. Sure, Zack's punches and kicks were strong against the large birds that keeps on throwing poisonous water attacks and his magic was apparently strong enough to burn the leaf monsters to a crisp while Cloud could have his _rune_ sword be engulfed in flames, doing damage and burning them at the same time, _but_ that was not the point why he should accompany the kid. When – _not if because it **will** happen_ – Cloud got paralyzed or blinded, he would be open to attacks as he went to search for the appropriate cure.

In the Ancient Forest, Zack needed Cloud to watch his back and the same for him as well. Not leaving Zack while he goes to do some spelunking, alone. He has his hawk but still… It's better to be safe, right? It's better to have a decent chance **not** be toad-ed again.

Zack doesn't know how or when it happened but he has an idea the two may have done something as he was chasing them because he came across a strange looking tunnel on one on of the cave walls. It was strange because the tunnel seemed to have been blocked by a large boulder or some sort of wall, which was the exact case for Zack had noticed there was a large, rectangle block of stone leaning on one of the cave walls inside the tunnel. He went through and let out a sigh, relieved that there was still lighting from the crystals scattered throughout the cave's ceilings that Cloud claimed to be Mako Crystals.

They certainly had the color of Mako, smoky green, which painted the entire cave with a green hue. Not like the grass and leaves outside, which were bright green, but it was like a result of green and white mixed together.

"…so that means the entire place was hidden because of a super-charged Quake!" He can hear Cloud rambling, which means he was getting near. Making his way down through the tunnel, because he was sure he was getting deeper since the ground appears to be a slope after a certain distance from the entrance, Zack arrived at clearing. A wide clearing on top of a platform.

He made a gasp. He was expecting some sort of a hidden altar just like at Gongaga for Titan but he didn't expect to find a hidden village under the forest. Zack could see buildings made out of stone at the distance while there was some sort of pathway made out of some sort of glass towards the buildings. There were some coming from the platform he came to and Cloud was on top of one, inspecting the glass-like bridge, while his hawk was on a stone pillar, watching the blond.

"H-Hey! You left me back there!" Zack exclaimed. "What if you got paralyzed or blinded on the way here?"

"But I didn't. And I got Ver with me, see? You seem to be fine so I think there's nothing wrong in the end," Cloud replied, not turning back at him while inspecting the bridge. "Wow, it **is** a crystal bridge, not an ice one."

Cloud stood up and slowly made steps on the bridge. He was apparently just testing if it could handle his weight by jumping a couple of times before he stepped back to solid ground. "Ver, you go ahead and look for something," he said without looking at the hawk while he went to the other side of the platform. There was some sort of stone fences on the platform with stone pillars at the corners, making the platform look like a balcony of sorts. Like the large one Zack saw once at Walla Walla's Town Hall when he and his father bought some coconuts and Wutain goods.

"Can you believe this Zack?! A hidden city under the Ancient Forest!" Cloud turned around to him with eyes wide open in glee. He then frowned, saying, "Wait, maybe this is just an outpost or a village. Not too large for a village honestly. A settle… ment? Perhaps...?"

"Hey, slow down for a while, okay?" Zack said, uneasiness apparent on his face. "I'm still working on the fact that there's **something** here so please, calm down Cloud." He breathed in deeply and did some squats, working off the tension he had made when the kid ran off previously. Sure, Cloud had travelled all by himself but Zack could now attest that he now understood why his parents were so worked up everytime he ran off by himself. It was **not** a very nice feeling.

Zack stepped closer to Cloud and put his arms on the kid's shoulders. "Hey, listen," he spoke in a low voice, making Cloud look up to him. "Don't run off without me, okay. I was worried." Cloud looked away. "Seriously. I know you are on your own for a while but please, you scared me when you ran off by yourself." Cloud tried to protest but Zack didn't let him. "I know we just met but I'm genuinely concerned about you. So please." Cloud dropped his head.

He released his hold on Cloud's shoulders, at which Cloud placed his hand on where Zack's was moments earlier and wrapped an arm around his waist, still not facing the taller boy. "…Sorry," he said after a few moments. "Sorry if I ran off. I thought you were following us and I… Sorry."

Zack pushed Cloud lightly. "Well, it's okay Spike. You're fine. I'm fine. Your pet hawk- "

"His name's Ver and he's not my pet. He's my little brother."

"Okay, okay, your _brother_ is fine so there's nothing to worry about now." Grabbing Cloud's free arm, Zack dragged the kid towards the bridge he was inspecting before. "What's left is checking this place out, grab some… What's your plan anyway? After searching the lost temple, that is."

Cloud scrunched up his nose and squinted at the distant balcony the bridge was connected to. "We were planning to check and find some Materia, we sell them after making them multiply because they're actually so valuable at stores. Hm... then find some lost weapon or item? This sword I have is ancient, you know that, right? Then for sure there are more of them." He then patted the pocket where the bangle they found earlier was stored before slowly walking on the bridge, arms extended on both sides. "And I want to find more of this. It could be worth something big."

"Planning to sell them at the first chance at Gongaga?" Zack asked, following the blond on the glass-like bridge. The drop below was deep judging from the lack of lighting, even with the slight glow of the green crystals on the cave's walls and ceiling. Now that he saw what was below them, Zack noticed the buildings were made out of some sort of stone or cement. Although he couldn't see what were their designs looked like, Zack clearly saw that it was beautiful, making him frown at the idea the place was abandoned for quite a long time.

He and Cloud walked slowly on the long glass-like bride, both admiring the abandoned place at their own pace. Cloud constantly paused and inspect a part of the city they would come across on the bridge, which Zack would use the time to watch and search for any monsters that might be lurking. He wasn't careful before and it got him _toad-ed_.

As they made their way through the bridge, it began to have railings; both them sighed in relief at the sight of it, prompting them to place their hands on it and take a breather. Strangely, it seemed the air was fresher than before, which was a bit stuffy due to the lack of flowing wind. Zack focused on his surroundings, something he didn't beforehand because of his concentration on balancing and possibility of surprise attacks, and noticed the subtle change in lighting. It was now brighter, as if someone broke a part of the cave's ceiling and let sunlight through. He looked up and smiled faintly. A part of the cave's ceiling was broken at the distance and Zack was sure it would lead them out of the Ancient Forest.

He focused on the wind. Before, it was still which was a given because they're inside a cave, but now, it was moving. Zack grinned. "Seems we found our exit. Do you think there's a chance there is a hidden pathway out here?" His companion ahead just grunted.

"Maybe. If it was the same as before then my sword would be a big help on getting us out here." Cloud took a deep breath and exhaled. "Okay, let's go. I can feel it. That's an altar there and I bet there's something on it."

"…I swear I'm in an episode of _Laguna and the Hidden Temples._ This is too amazing."

Cloud laughed. "Maybe it's because they used the stories of the temples and cities of the Ancients? Watched it once at Walla Walla and I'm surprised they got Cosmo Canyon right."

"What?! You mean Cosmo Canyon has a hidden stable for Chocobos? Underground?!" He leaped on the platform, following Cloud who did before him. They reached the end of the bridge and Cloud was correct. There was an altar, just like in Gongaga, and the hole above them was letting in the sunlight. Zack squinted and saw plants were growing on the edges of the hole, vines creeping down from above and birds chirping at the distance.

"They also have an underground river where they get water. It's quite new really because they just found it by the time we got to Cosmo Canyon," Cloud said, walking towards the altar. "Cool. Maybe we'll check the rest after I get this." Zack saw the object Cloud was referring to on the altar was a strange sword. It was a weirdly designed sword, in fact Zack wasn't sure it was even a sword at all.

Cloud grabbed it off its pedestal and brought it to Zack. He gaped at its size and the fact Cloud picked it up like it weighed nothing. "Hm… It's too light. Check it out Zack," Cloud said as he practically dropped the sword's hilt on Zack's hands. Zack immediately fumbled with it, afraid of its supposed weight, but found it lighter than he expected.

It was _too light_. "…It weighs like nothing. Is it because of its design?" He had seen countless of swords before and Zack knew it use depends on the blade used. The sword on his hand was a jumbled piece of steel that made up its 'sword' shape and judging from the flick he made with his finger, it was also hollow. "Maybe it's a… magic sword too?"

"Probably. Look," Cloud stated, pointing to it hilt. There were three small hole slots, most likely for Materia, and one was already occupied with a yellow Materia. Cloud placed his finger on it and closed his eyes. "It's… Hm… It's a 'Slash-All' Materia. Wow, it's different from mine. Maybe its yellow?"

He knew there are different types of Materia, they all have different colors, but all he knew was the Magic Materias and he never saw other colored Materias aside from the green Magic Materias. Cloud pulled out a pouch from his backpack and brought out a purple colored Materia. He focused on it before he gave it to Zack and returned rummaging. "That's a, uh, 'Long Range' Materia. With it, you can magically hit the monsters that are so far away from you if you focused on them. Well, _if_ you focused because it doesn't work unless you gave it a thought."

"Uhuh," Zack said, taking the purple Materia and placing it inside a slot. Cloud handed him another Materia. This time it was green Materia, though it seemed to be darker than the one he had on his bangle. "I got one already."

"Just hold it for a while." Zack took the Materia and he lightly twirled it with his fingers. Finding no harm to check what type of Magic was inside the Materia, Zack focused his mind on the Materia. Inside Zack found too many types of Magic inside that he cut off his focus and stared at the orb on his hand. Cloud took it from his hand and replaced it with a lighter green Materia. He must have noticed Zack's shocked expression because he said, "Oh right, that was a Master Magic Materia. All Magic spells in one Materia. Pretty neat, huh?"

Zack just gaped at the kid's nonchalant attitude at the strange Materia. It was already hard to concentrate and charge up a Thundera from his Thunder Materia, how could he search and charge up a magic spell from various types inside _that_ Materia? "It was hard at first but I got the hang of it. Anyway," Cloud continued, pointing his now free hand to the Magic Materia on his palm. "That's a Fire Materia. You keep on complaining on wanting to burn those critters personally and I remembered I have one on hand. Sorry if I forgot to give it to you earlier."

"No no, it's okay. It's okay. Thanks," Zack replied, placing the Fire Materia on the last slot. The moment he placed the last Materia, the sword began to weigh heavier than before until he couldn't handle it with one hand. "Oh. So, that's how it works."

Cloud looked jealous at first but he shook his head and made a smile. Zack tried to ask the blond but it seemed Cloud had anticipated him. "Nah, I got my own _rune_ sword so it's yours. Make sense since it came here and you're a Gongagan native. Besides, I can't handle that large and heavy sword, especially if it became heavier as more Materia is place in it." He brought out his sword and pointed towards the three occupied Materia slots and one unoccupied one. Cloud then slotted the Materia he had on one and the sword briefly glowed. "I like using magic, just like Ver, so it's easier for me to have many magic options. I bet it gets heavier as more Magic spells are found inside the Materia."

"...You noticed it too huh." Cloud was right. The yellow Materia was already in it but it weighed nothing. He added the Long Range and it still weighed nothing. But when he added the Fire Materia, it felt heavier than before. And Zack was sure that the Fire Materia Cloud had given to him have reached peaked condition already, making it 3 Fire spells in it. "It slowly went heavier until I have to place it on the ground." Zack grunted before he heaved the sword from the ground. It wasn't that heavy and his father's logs were **much** heavier than the sword. "Hm… Seems like a perfect match for me, right?" he stated, hefting the strange looking sword over his shoulder with a grin on his face.

Cloud grinned back. He was about to comment where the hawk was before everything went dark all of a sudden. Both of them looked up and saw something looming over the hole at the cave's ceiling. The large green something jumped and almost didn't fit in the hole. It squeezed itself in, causing tremors throughout the entire underground space.

Cloud had to kneel and use his sword as a stand while Zack did the same because the tremors the large green _monster_ was making was strong that it almost made them fall over. After a few shifts the monster fell from the hole and _roared_ as it caused several chunks of rock to fall from the cave's ceiling.

It was a green plant like monster but for some reason it had a pink skirt-like thing around its waist, like it was some sort of monster impersonating a person. It had two limbs that were full of thorns and a large mouth with lots of teeth. Its legs also seemed to be legs of a normal monster but apparently, it was a combination of vines that shaped to look like a leg. The monster lacked eyes but Zack felt it didn't need one because the monster had two large holes where one could expect a nose to be found.

He knew some monsters use the sense of smell to track their enemies, just like dogs who can track down their owners just by smelling their clothes, so the _large skirt-wearing monster_ must be using the sense of smell as a way to find its prey. The monster swung its large limbs at the direction, making him and Cloud to ran away just to avoid it.

It must have sensed its attack didn't hit them because it roared and spewed yellow colored dust from its 'mouth' upwards. The dust seemed to be some sort of pollen and its dust cloud slowly descended to the ground. Cloud was unlucky because he accidentally found himself in the dust cloud as he hopped back to avoid the monster's limb. Zack then knew it was a _paralyzing dust cloud_ because Cloud couldn't move and his eyes were wide open in shock.

Zack fumbled with his sword and swiped it, focusing on the Long-Range Materia to activate. He knew he doesn't have much time to reach Cloud nor the limb that was fast approaching his friend so Zack decided to trust Cloud's instructions, using the Long-Range Materia's magic. A phantom slash then appeared on the monster's limb, a deep slash with some parts of it glowing _red and charred_ , causing the monster's attack to miss Cloud completely and it to roar from the sudden attack.

Good thing the platform they were on was nowhere near the bridge nor the chasm because it would spell bad news if they tumbled down accidentally. Zack sprinted towards Cloud, fumbling his pockets for a Remedy to remove the paralysis while watching the monster's action. It was still roaring from the pain it must be feeling, making a grin appear on Zack's face. Serves it right.

Remedy on hand, he pushed them through Cloud's mouth and saw Cloud swallow it. Remedies work like magic because as soon as it was ingested, it worked fast to remove the status effect one was suffering. In Cloud's case, he immediately stopped from being paralyzed and quickly placed his hand around his sword's hilt. The green Materia on the hilt glowed for a moment and the two of them were briefly engulfed in a bright white light. It disappeared quickly and Zack saw a translucent barrier around him and Cloud that resembled a shield.

"Resist. That should take care of the paralyzing dust cloud," Cloud stated, after making a slash with his sword and a wound appear on the monster's body. "Sorry if I didn't use it before, my Heal Materia was with Ver and the only Resist spell I have was in my Master Magic. And I was making my other Materia to multiply. Sorry."

Zack could understand that. Besides, paralysis was different than blindness and poison because they could still grab a Remedy and remove it as soon as possible while paralysis completely makes one immobile. He focused a Fire from the Fire Materia on his sword and the sword became engulfed temporarily in flames. Zack then threw the fire on his sword towards the monster and it screamed.

It countered their attacks by having leg-like vines tunnel through the ground and shot up below. Both of them tried to run away from the sudden change but they got caught by the fast attack. Their legs got entwined by the vines, making them incapable of moving. Cloud tried to cut them and Zack tried to burn them too but more vines immediately replaced what was removed.

"Why this little…" Cloud closed his eyes and focused on charging an attack. Zack saw his friend did it and focused on protecting him from the vines that tried to attack by throwing fireballs at it and cutting with his Long-Range Materia. The monster must have noticed Cloud charging because it focused all of its vines to strike Cloud. "Take this you oversized bulb!" Cloud shouted as he swung his sword and small fireball flew from it.

It hit the monster directly at its skirt and it exploded, flames dancing on its weird dress. The vines on their legs retreated to its owner, enabling them to move again. Clearly angered, the monster turned its vines into legs again and jumped towards them. Cloud and Zack scrambled away and the monster landed on their previous location. It turned around while swinging its limbs in a flailing motion, hitting Zack from behind.

"Zack!" He could hear Cloud cry out as he flew from the hit. He almost hit a wall before something hit him. It felt he was stuck or hit by a paralysis temporarily but he was still above the air. He then fell to ground as fast as he stopped but he was caught by a sudden patch of swirling air, cushioning his fall until he was safe on the ground.

"Phew, that was close," a young voice said. Zack turned towards where the voice came from and saw a kid. The kid had a cap on his head and was wearing the same type of clothes Cloud was wearing. He was tempted to call the kid as Cloud's twin but he saw Cloud was across the other side and running towards him. "Hey, get up. You guys should have waited for me, you know."

"Thanks for the save," Zack hastily spoke, gasping from the shock he received from the attack earlier. "Who are you?" He noticed the kid had green eyes with same brightness as Cloud's and had two bangles on his arms with Materias on it.

"Hmm…? Oh, sorry, forgot to introduce myself. I'm Ver!" the kid said, grabbing his hand and shaking it. As soon as the kid grabbed him, he dropped it and ran towards Cloud. "Cloud! You should have stopped for me!"

"Where were you anyway?!" Cloud shouted, ducking from a swipe of the monster's vines. "Did you saw this from above?!"

"Yeah, the town's pretty close but I saw the monster slowly making its way back to the hole. Sorry if I'm late." The kid whose name sounded so close to the white hawk threw two fireballs. "Hey, what's wrong with you?" he asked, turning towards Zack.

"Where did you came from?! And how did you know Cloud!? And why is your name sound so close to his hawk!?" Zack asked incredulously, making phantom slashes at the monster while cutting any vines that tried to come closer to them. The flames Cloud had made on its pink colored skirt were gone and didn't seem to have happened at all, making Zack frown from the wasted charged attack. He heard Cloud groaned out a moment later, signaling the same idea had gone through his friend's mind. The monster went to a squatting position and Zack recognized what it was planning to do.

"I'm the hawk, stupid. Did you forget the kid that tried to save you before from the big birds?" The three of them scampered away before the monster landed, with Cloud going towards the west side of the large altar platform while he and the kid with a cap on his head to the other. "Wait, maybe you didn't saw me…?"

"There was no kid! It was only a hawk! A white hawk!" Cloud swiped a vine that came close with a slash and threw another fireball. "Don't tell me you're the hawk?!"

"I. Am. The. Hawk." Then the kid turned into a bird, swooping towards the monster's head and changed into a person again in an instant. There were no sparkles like the one he saw on Saturday TV shows but just instant change, like in a blink of an eye. He landed on top of the monster's head and placed both his hands at where its eyes supposed to be at. "I guess I didn't, huh." The kid's wrists flashed a green glow and ice began to form from his hands, encasing the head of the monster momentarily. Its limbs immediately went to its head, clearly to swipe the ice or the one who made the ice off, and he transformed back into the hawk, flying off back to Zack's side.

"…Oh." Now that he knew the hawk _was_ a kid, Cloud's words now made sense. Why he referred the hawk as his brother and why he was so flustered at Zack calling it a pet. He must have thought Zack was making a joke or something. "Wait, did Cloud thought I knew about… you?"

The kid seemed to mull it over, taking off the cap on his head and ruffled his black hair underneath it. "I think? Maybe? You're taking this way too easy," he said, releasing three consecutive fireballs at the fumbling monster with its ice-cased head. Cloud was busy trying to burn it with cries of ' _turn brown you big leaf!'_ and explosions of flames. "Cloud seemed to be enjoying this."

"…Yeah," Zack admitted after witnessing Cloud went all full terror at the vines the monster kept on throwing at him by cutting them with the currently _blazing rune_ sword he has on his hands. "Well, I got turned into a toad. If a _toad_ could turn someone into another toad, why not a person into another _animal_? Right? I think Cloud said something about this…"

The kid chuckled. "Something along like ' _I believe it's true because I got a magic sword!'_? Ever since I found that sword at some cave in Nibelheim, he became a believer of various ancient legends. Me too, by the way, because hey! I can turn into animals and some monsters at will!" he stated with his chin raised up and hands position on his hips. Zack turned to Cloud and saw he was still on chopping the vines the monster had for legs while the limbs it had for arms were frozen solid. "Huh. The parts where it all plant got frozen but it doesn't seem to stick."

Zack looked up and saw the ice at the monster's head began to disappear, not melting but _disintegrating_. Like dust in the wind type. "That looks bad," he said, readying his sword. The kid beside him nodded and clenched his fists, bracelets glowing. "Name's Zack Fair. You're…?"

"Veränderung Strife, Ver for short. It's spelled with a ' _V_ ', okay, though it is pronounced as an ' _f'_ , okay?" A yellow glow engulfed him, the kid and Cloud briefly before it was followed by a sudden gust of wind circling around the monster. "Nice to meet you, Zack! Let's get along!" Cloud noticed the changes and made his way back to them.

"Took you two long enough to introduce each other," Cloud started as the monster got caught up in the small tornado the kid was apparently making. Ver had his arm held out and eyes focused on the monster and the almost visible tornado he was making. "Fire gets to it but burns don't. Maybe it has some kind of resistance to Fire?"

"Nah, I saw some of the vines you cut burned to ashes so no, it's not resistant to flames. Not even burns," Zack commented, making more gashes appear on the monster's body using his sword. "Ugh, what is it wearing? Is there some strap we could remove it? It's like it's wearing some sort of skirt!"

"Then let's cut it! Maybe it's special like that one ring we bought at Walla Walla! The one from that weird guy with coconuts? It…" Ver closed his eyes momentarily before opening them again. "It repels status effects, Cloud! No wonder we couldn't burn it!"

Zack paused momentarily. "...Status effects? Oh, like poison and paralyzed." He then quickly berated himself from forgetting, considering he was under a very _annoying_ status effect recently.

"Hey, you're right! That skirt's cloth is like that Fire Ring! Zack! Help me find its straps and Ver could take it off the ground and inflict some burns!" Cloud then ran off to the back of the still immobilized monster, with the kid now creating small shards of ice to the tornado he was making. Zack followed Cloud on getting near the monster and noticed the monster was really _wearing_ a skirt.

It looked it was originally a small and extravagant looking skirt but the monster must have squeezed itself into wearing it, causing the skirt to stretch like mad. Cloud and Zack worked on cutting the skirt at a certain part of it that looked like it would rip off if given the chance. After a couple of slashes with their sword equipped with Long Range Materia, the skirt fell off and flew off with the wind. The monster noticed it and tried to get it back using its vine arms but the cloth disappeared when something hit it.

A flash and Zack saw it appear at Cloud's hands with a small dagger through it. "Phew. Never knew I would use it like that," Cloud said, rolling the quite long pink used-to-be-a-skirt cloth and placing it inside his backpack. Zack inspected the small knife and saw the dagger had two slots for Materia which had a single green Materia and a light blue Materia. Cloud placed it back to a small sheath on his belt and secured it tightly. "Now…"

Zack wanted to ask what just Cloud did but he decided to ask later. Cloud had a grin on his face and his hand was twitching. He backed off and let Cloud walk a bit closer to the large monster that was now had its leg-shaped vines all frozen. It spewed out its paralyzing dust cloud but the magic barrier Cloud had cast beforehand glowed, preventing any of the dust to come closer to Cloud and Zack.

"You oversized weed! Listen! You need to be trimmed and burned to ashes! And guess what?! I'm going to do it! **BY! MYSELF!** " Cloud clenched his fists, sword sheathed at his side, and charged towards it. The monster noticed his action and tried to retaliate by swinging its limbs to his friend, but both Zack and Ver evidently stopped it with their respective attacks, a lightning bolt from Zack and a large ice shard from Ver. With its attack countered, Cloud managed to get a solid hit on the monster, creating a deep gash on its body that was somewhat fleshy despite its plant-like appearance. Red burns were left on its body as Cloud's flaming sword sliced through its leafy outer skin.

The hat wearing kid then made the tornado whirling around them to intensify, concentrating on the monster instead of them. It seemed to be stunned when the wind began to pick up, its vine-like legs losing its grip on the ground. Ver's tornado then burst into flames, burning and scorching its legs, arms and body at the same time as it went up in the air due to the strong wind currents. Zack then heard something hit the ground, making him turn his head towards the noise and saw Ver kneeling on leg with a grin on his face, bullets of sweat dripping from his forehead. He motioned to help the younger boy up but he stopped when the said kid stood up and tried to cast another magic spell, based on the dim glow from the bracer on his arm. Keyword: tried.

Ver managed only to create a shoddy looking ice pillar near Cloud that Zack thought the kid had misaimed his spell. He tried to ask the kid when Ver turned around and grinned, gesturing him to look at Cloud instead. Zack did and what he saw made him grin as well.

The blond jumped on the ledges of the evidently stable and sturdy ice pillar all the way to the top. His bracer then glowed a green glow, signaling a magic spell was in action.

"What's he doing?" Zack asked. "Is he going to throw another fireball?"

"Nah, he's gonna try something else. We have been playing around with our Magic Materias and Cloud discovered he has an affinity with Comet spells."

"…Comet? Affinity?"

"Ah… Affinity is like what you're good at or something you excel at? Like I'm much better with magic than Cloud but he counters it with him being good with his sword. You get that?"

Now that he understood. It was like a preference or specialty. Like his mother was good in cooking those Large Bills while his dad was only good with vegetables.

"And Comet? What's that? Never heard of it before." In all honesty, all he knew was the 4 basic Elemental spells that he saw being performed on television or by the various people he met at the other villages in the Gongagan Subcontinent.

"Think of a rock. A rock that falls down so fast from the sky to the ground. That's Comet."

"…A rock. Really?" What could a rock do? Aside from making a very big bump on someone's head and ensuring a very long time with a block of ice on their head.

Ver rolled his eyes. "Just watch."

And they were just on time to see Cloud jump from his position on the ice pillar, slashing the air in front of him and creating a strange tear in the air, as if he just _cut_ space. He couldn't see what actually was inside the tear but it began to expand and out came several rocks that then burst into flames. The flaming rocks then began to bombard on the monster, earning a very loud screech from it before it was toppled over by Cloud's attack.

"Oh." He felt something click in his head and his body shivered from the scene. Zack was still seeing the worn down rocks and their flames even when there wasn't anything left, all because it was _so_ ** _cool_**.

The kid beside him punched his side, making him look down and saw his grin grew wider. "Told 'ya."

He returned his attention to the monster and saw it fall down at the edge of their platform. Before it fell, Zack was sure that it wouldn't survive even if it found itself safe from the fall. The burns from the blazing tornado Ver had made, the deep wound from Cloud's sword, the various cut 'limbs' from his and their attacks, and the finishing blows of Cloud's Comet spell ensured that it won't come back anytime soon. But he was curious of what would happen to it that he sprinted off towards the edge, the exact place where it fell as soon it disappeared from his sight.

Unsurprisingly, the two obviously adopted brothers followed him, with Cloud hopping down from the quickly collapsing ice pillar and Ver running as fast as he could. There they looked over the edge and saw the monster hitting a couple of stone pillars and probably some old buildings below. Cloud groaned out loud while Ver sighed.

"Huh? Why are you- "

"So many old and possibly ancient artifacts lost to that flailing monster!" Cloud exclaimed, stomping the stone platform they were on with his foot and making pained expressions on his face. "And it's still alive!"

"Well, not anymore," the younger boy chirped, pointing down towards the dark valley. "The last building it struck finished it off."

Zack looked back and saw the monster down on the ground, its parts slowly dissipating into green mist. "Oh boy, there it goes."

"Good riddance to it," their 'victimized' companion spat out, a term Zack mentally tagged after witnessing his aghast expression on the cliff . "Thanks to it, the things we could have sold at the next town are now lessened or damaged."

"Come on Cloud, the underground village is quite large." Ver waved his hands and couple of glowing orbs of light appeared. He then motioned some to move below and the orbs followed suit, lighting various areas of the dark area. "I'm pretty sure we can find more."

"Um, what did you just do?" Zack asked. "You made those light orbs appear like it was nothing!"

"That's a Flash. I just played with it and made it become balls," the kid replied, waving his hand in a dismissive manner. He then turned his back at Zack and went towards his brother, poking in his side. "Oh, now that you reminded me, what were you thinking Cloud? You didn't introduce me to Zack?!"

"W-What?!"

"He didn't know I was the hawk! And you told me he already knows!"

"But I told him you were my brother countless of times! Right, Zack?"

The two brothers then turned to him, Cloud with a pleading expression while Ver with a challenging one.

"Uh, Cloud keep on repeating that you're his brother."

"See!?"

"But he didn't tell me the bird wasn't a bird at all! I thought he was crazy when he kept on saying the bird's his brother."

"What the-? You didn't saw him as a person before he scooped you up?"

It was Zack's turn to send Cloud a questioning look. "No. What made you think that?"

"…Oh."

"Now that we all know why Zack was surprised at seeing me and why this blockhead assumed you know things already, can we all now discuss how we can get out from this place?"

Zack and Cloud looked up at the large hole above them. As Zack pondered on whether they should trace their steps back to the entrance of the cave and find a different route out of the Forest, Cloud perked up and voiced, "Escape? Exit? Teleport?"

"Hah. Funny, Cloud. Have you forgotten we just sold them at Walla Walla and currently, our Exit Materias only have the Escape spell in them. I'm not that good yet with the Teleport spell."

"Aw. Then what about any exits topside? You saw some?"

"Yeah but I have to check if they _do_ connect here. Maybe they're duds like the ones at Cosmo Canyon."

Zack then decided to join in. "What about retracing our steps?"

Both brothers turned towards him, deep in thought, before simultaneously shaking their heads. "Too far for us and by the time we got out, maybe it's already dark," Cloud said. Ver nodded, adding his own opinion, "And if we do get out in time before the sun set, the nearest town to _far_ away from. In fact, we are _much_ closer to Gongaga here than at the entrance."

"How?" Zack asked.

"Just above that hole and a few meters away, there's a shed I stumbled near a house where a man and a woman lived. The shed looked kinda used, with lots of logs and woodcrafts in it that- "

"Hey! That's our house! You mean we are **that** close to Gongaga?!"

Ver let out a sigh, taking off his cap again to scratch his head. "Yeah, we are too close. Made me wonder how come no one discovered this extra large hole above us. I mean, it is so big. For sure someone must have noticed there's this large hole in the ground, right?"

"Honestly, we kinda know about this hole," Zack started, walking towards the partially destroyed altar in the center of the platform they were at. "But we thought it was like those sinkholes at the desert and we just never bothered to investigate it much. Not to mention that we really care about this part of our forest since it _is_ Gongaga's main source of income, aside from the Mako Reactor nearby. We like our forest to stay the same, thank you very much" He turned around towards the two, noting Cloud had made his way over to a small corridor at the corner and Ver following him with his focus up at the sky beyond the large hole in the cave. "I think I remember a story how our village was originally established to protect something. Maybe it has some truth in it?"

"Well, I found a _magic sword_ for Cloud, you two found _another_ magic sword, we three fought a _sneaky magical and oversized_ plant monster and there's a ruin of a settlement underneath Gongaga that is _connected_ to the Ancient Forest. I dunno, Zack. Cloud and I pretty much broke a lot of bedtime stories for the past years. Can't say much about yours, though."

"You're really something, aren't 'ya?"

"Hey! You two! I found a passage here! Seems to be connected to somewhere? You guys wanna follow me or not?!"

"Should I go ahead and search above?"

"Hm… Nah, you'll probably get lost finding the secret passageway. Besides, your orbs of lights maybe handy right now."

"Hey! You two coming or what?!"

Both Zack and Ver shook their heads and ran to the corridor Cloud went into earlier. "We're coming!"

* * *

 **A.N.**

 **The names used for the Gongagan Subcontinent towns are all from real world locations, found in the list of weird and unique names for towns and cities all over the world.**

 **Also I made an attempt to make heads and tails about that certain mob exclusive only at the arena, where according to the beta files, it should have been a mob at the Ancient Forest. Huh...**

* * *

Next Chapter:

 **Cloud:** Deal with the aftermath. And pick up your bet winnings from Reno.


End file.
